Costs in excess of 30 free hours

[Katiek987]

Hi everyone

I am after some help with what childcare costs in reality look like. I’m a single woman looking to have a baby on my own but want to be realistic about whether this is financially possible. Say I was eligible for the 30 free hours from 9 months from September 2025, and I needed full time childcare, what should I expect to need to budget? I live in the SE. Am really struggling to get a true idea with the 30 hours only being over 38 weeks and all the added costs (food, nappies etc). Could be nursery or a childminder, nanny would be too expensive!

if anyone could please give me a steer or point me i the direction of another thread (I did look but couldn’t see) x

Depending on where you are in the country I would estimate £700-£1000 a month on top of the funded hours for 5 days a week.

I paid £330 a month for 1 day a week and used the 22 hours pro rata for another 2 days. It also depends on what the nursery allows and if you can spread it over 52 weeks.

Thank you!

In SE London/Kent boarders. 4 days a week nursery is around £1300. 30 funded hours recently kicked in which we stretch over 51 weeks. Bill has roughly halved.

Thank you, going down to 4 days a week is another consideration so that’s a good indicator.

Would you be entitled to UC? That may help towards childcare costs. Also have a look at childcarechoices.co.uk as tax free childcare can be used with funded hours

We are full time in nursery in the commuter belt, with the 30 funded hours spread over the full year, tax free childcare, and a 5% discount linked to our employer. We currently pay £850 a month for our 3 year old. Works out as 21 hours funded spread over the full calendar year, so we get 2 days a week funded then we pay for 3. Our childcare has gone up considerably though since she started, and the 10% annual rise in fees the last 2 years has really minimised the impact the 30 funded hours has actually had.

our nursery gives a breakdown of the fees with / without the 30 hrs funding so you can see the difference. Might be worth approaching a couple of local ones and asking. Nursery fees vary so much it can be hard to extrapolate from other people’s experiences. Our nursery in North London (N6), for example, charge £130 a day do the free hours don’t make that much difference unfortunately. That’s probably quite extreme as thd area is pretty pricey, but you get my drift.

No to UC. I’ll take a look as I confess the tax free childcare isn’t something I understand properly atm

Yes good point - you get 20% off the fees that are payable via tax free childcare!

Thank you, that’s really helpful, 10% annual increase is a bit scary!

£130 a day, wow! That’s eye opening

So essentially if you earn under 100k a year and go to an ofsted registered provider, you can register for tax free childcare which is an online portal that you pay your fees into, and the government then tops up by 20% (although this is currently capped at £500 a quarter). You can then pay your childcare provider direct from this account.

Ok so not a game changer but helpful nevertheless. Thank you for explaining

My son has started school now so I can't remember exact figures but, when he was attending a few months ago, it worked out at roughly £10 per day with 30 free hours in place (I work in education x3 days per week so didn't need to fund additional days in the week or over the holidays). Before he got the free hours, it would have roughly cost £70 per day. Sign up for a tax free childcare account as that means for every £10, you only pay £8.

Say I was eligible for the 30 free hours from 9 months from September 2025

Be aware though…I wouldn’t necessarily assume that budget suggestions from this government will be honoured by any incoming government.

☹️ yes another variable to factor in!

The 30 free hours is term time only, so if used all year round is more like 22 hours per week.

At the moment only 3 and 4 year olds get the 30 hour funding, so a starting point is to research top up fees that current 30 hour families pay. However, do bear in mind that staffing ratios are very different for tiny children so top ups for babies and toddlers will be significantly higher than for 3 year olds.

Is this with wrap around hrs also? That seems astronomical!

my child’s nursery wrap around is £25 a day all in, so after tax free childcare it’s £400.

but that’s with a hot meal, packed lunch would be less.

I pay about £200 a month for 3 days a week including stretching the 30hours to 51 weeks a year…

That sounds very cheap. Is that a childminder?

Have a google for nursery chains which publish fees and apply the 30 hours funding as "stretched" funding. This means they actually spread the funding across the full year and you get charged the same fee month in, month out. Other nurseries don't stretch it and flex the monthly charge depending on how many funded days fall into any gin month. Even if it's not what you end up with, it will give you an idea of the sums you need to budget.

Here's an example nfamilyclub.com/fees/

The big unknown is if the 30 hours does come in for younger children, how that will affect their fees.

Typically, even without bringing funding into the mix, fees drop when a child turns three because the staff ratio requirement reduces.

So you might not be able to get to an exact number, but you'll get a feel for how much fees are for a younger child without funding and you'll see how much funding reduces the cost for older ones currently eligible.

And as pp said, plan 10% increase.

Depending on your income, it can be financially advantageous to work less with a baby, as if the fifth day causes a tax hike, the childcare for that day of the week will almost cancel it.

Same, west london. 1300 for four days, will go to 700ish when 30 free hours kicks in. That is for a nursery that runs 7-7 and includes all meals, nappies, activities.

Thank you for all the contributions, has given me plenty to think about.

We had 30 free hours, and only paid for the very few hours needed above that (I worked school hours in the school next door )

So about £90 a month, plus meals had we wanted them which we didn't.