Universal Credit can help with the costs of childcare. You may be able to claim up to 85% of your registered childcare costs if you’re eligible for Universal Credit, in paid work or due to start a job in the next month.
You have to pay for your childcare costs yourself unless you are eligible for an initial up-front childcare cost payment. You then report them through your Universal Credit account and will be paid some of the money back in your next Universal Credit payment. You can get up to 85% of childcare costs paid back to you. The maximum amount for each assessment period is:
- £1,014.63 for one child
- £1,739.37 for 2 or more children
You will only get the money back with Universal Credit after the childcare actually happens.
You can claim Universal Credit Childcare costs for all the children you’re responsible for until the 31 August after their 16th birthday.
What can childcare costs cover?
Childcare costs can be used to cover childcare costs within ‘registered’ childcare providers.
Usually that means they registered with OFSTED, the Care Inspectorate in Scotland or the Care Inspectorate Wales.
That could include nurseries, preschools, after-school clubs, breakfast clubs, childminders, nannies and some holiday clubs.
Universal Credit will cover ‘reasonable’ childcare costs that help you work or get into work. That could include:
- a ‘settling-in period’ before you start work, so your child can get used to being in childcare
- childcare while you travel to work
- childcare in the assessment period after you lose a job
Childcare for changing work patterns or zero-hours contracts can also be considered ‘reasonable’.
For example, if you have to pay childcare costs so that you are available to work your usual hours, and then you actually get less work hours than you expected, that’s considered ‘reasonable’.