30 hours free childcare

[jarofheart]

DH and I are thinking of trying for DC2. I want to have an idea of nursery costs before we start.

Currently DC1 is at nursery for 4 days a week (we pay for 44 hours). I want to time it so that by the time DC2 starts nursery DC1 will be eligible for the 30 hours free funding (or before DC2 starts nursery at least).

I know some nursery's charge for food and that funding is only for term time, but I was wondering how much your childcare reduced once the 30 hours free kicked in. I know all nursery's will differ so I might ask DC1 nursery when I get a chance. DC only just started so don't really feel comfortable having that conversation yet.

Also, is it pro-rated so the 30 hours are based on 5 days childcare so if DC is going for 4 days we will only get 4/5 of the 30 hours?

Thank you

Ours averages it out over the year so we get roughly 22 hrs a week. DD goes 4 days a week and I think our costs went down by £4/500 a month.

Mine started the term time 30 hours funding this April and it reduced the bill to 0. If I wanted to send him during the holidays then it’s £31 something a week. All meals provided.

It's not £4.88 they get- more like £3.80 an hour per child.

I pay £6.75 a day top up fee if my child is there a full day. I feel it's relatively cheap. Funding kicks in a term after the child is 3.

It's 22 hours a year for a 50/51 week year (accounting for bank holidays and Xmas) or 30 hours a week 38 weeks a year (school hours) my nursery is really flexible with us but I'm aware how lucky we are.

Our child care bills have reduced by about £400 a month. We currently pay £65 ish

Pp said it's open to all working parents , that is not the case. You have to meet the criteria. I would just ask your nursery or even check their website, all of the nurseries had this kind of info in their prospectus packs so it isn't some kind of secret

I only use term time only 3 days a week. Currently approx £450 a month (averaged over year). With funding he will be in nursery for 27 hours so they are giving me all hours free (!) and i will just pay for food (£4 per day). Genuinely feel like I have won the lottery.

Totally depends on the nursery and how they structure it. Ours has fiddled it slightly tbh. In essence we could get 3 days for the price of 2 all year round so - 750 a month for 3 days rather than 2. Or a reduction to 450 for two. So a decent amount off per month but obviously it only really equates to 1 extra day per week in real terms which is a joke when you consider the ‘30 hours’ concept.

You need to talk to them. They’ll have fee structures available.

Also in London.

And school nurseries are great obviously- if you have a job that allows you to drop off at 9 and collect at 3 and flex around school holidays....

This is my monthly bill. They annualise it, so I pay the same every month. Top is with 30 hours. Bottom is normal rate. 37.5 hours a week for both of them.

We are in greater London and dd goes 4 days a week. Our bill went from just over £800 a month to just over £400 a month so practically halved which was a major help.

Dd goes all year round and with our nursery u had the option of just taking the hours during term time, or spreading them equally over the year. We chose to spread it over the year. In our case the nursery works out the fees over every quarter and sends us a breakdown, so every 4 months our payments change but only slightly. We also use childcare vouchers.

Like people have said u need to make sure u are eligible-there are some restrictions eg both parents have to work, earning between a certain amount etc. Once you apply u get a code that you have to pass to the nursery and I think u can only apply in the term before they are eligible. Also once u start receiving the 30 hours you do have to re-confirm your eligibility every 3 months.

My kids nursery is £62.50 a day, and they spread the 30 hours 'rebate' across the year usually.

From the school term starting after Easter to the summer hols (3months), the rebate is worth approx £1600. Everyone's rebate must be worth the same but it depends how your nursery applies it.

Some nurseries certainly do pro-rata the hours, ours does.

It's not £4.88 they get- more like £3.80 an hour per child.

Totally depends on the Local Authority, it's £4.23 here.

I work in childcare and as a setting we have to sign a contract to say that the 15 or 30 hours are free at the point of use.