The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are set to raise the maximum threshold for expenses regarding childcare for Universal Credit claimants later this month. As it currently stands, parents can claim back £646 for one child or £1,108 for two or more children.
However, these limits are set to rise to £95 and £1,630 respectively as of June 28. In its entirety, the 47 per cent rise will give eligible families up to an extra £522 each month.
The Government also announced that it will be helping eligible parents cover the entire first month of childcare as they enter work or significantly increase their hours of employment. It's all part of a move designed to assist those who are struggling to take on a job, or risk getting in debt through the hefty upfront costs associated with childcare.
Read more: Five things you may not know about Universal Credit - including not always having to look for a job
The Mirror reports that parents will also continue to receive up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs back before next month's bills are due, meaning the money will land a month in advance going forward. The extra support is worth a total of £900million.
On the payments, Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Claire Coutinho, said: "Childcare shouldn’t be a barrier to work, but the expense has previously meant parents have had to choose between working or looking after their child. We are supporting families with the largest ever expansion of free childcare, making sure that places will be available for parents who need them.
"This will save a working parent using 30 hours a week an average of £6,500. We have already announced plans to boost the amount Government pays childcare providers, and now we’re knocking down barriers to recruiting and retaining the talented staff that provide such wonderful care for our children."
The rollout was initially announced in the Spring Budget, and is part of a Government plan to grow the economy by welcoming more people back to work. A package of measures which would give new parents 15 free hours of childcare from their child turning nine months old to the start of school was also announced from September next year.
This is set to rise to 30 free hours as of September 2025.
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