Families to get up to £2,000 a year to help with childcare costs
Government confirms details of childcare support package.
The Government has confirmed details of its childcare support package, which will see nearly two million families offered help worth up to £2,000 a year per child.
When the Government first announced its intention to help with childcare costs last year, it was suggested that the support would total no more than £1,200 per child and would be phased in over a seven-year period.
However, this will be revamped, with Tax-Free Childcare offering a higher maximum level of support. And it will be available to all children under 12 within the first year from autumn 2015.
The Government will stump up 20% support on childcare costs up to a maximum of £10,000 per year, per child. In other words for every 80p parents pay in, the Government will pay 20p.
It will be administered via a “simple online system” run by HM Revenue & Customs, alongside National Savings & Investments.
The childcare support will be open to all families where the parents earn at least £50 per week, unless one parent earns more than £150,000 or receives support in the form of tax credits, Universal Credit or the existing Employer Supported Childcare vouchers. However the Government promises the rules will be tailored so that entrepreneurs and the self-employed who do not at first meet the earnings requirement are eligible for the scheme from the outset.
The current voucher scheme – where you sacrifice part of your salary for vouchers which can be used to pay for childcare – will still run, though it will be closed to new entrants from autumn 2015. Unlike the voucher scheme, the new Tax-Free Childcare accounts don’t rely on your employer signing up to participate.
What do you think? Will the new scheme make a significant difference to your childcare costs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below.
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