Universal Credit and Childcare

[Poppalina37]

Not sure if anyone knows the answer for this..... I am on maternity leave and recently put a claim in for universal credit. I have 3 children, it says that I get a total of £65 a month after my wage and deductions and they will pay for 2/3 children. After looking I can see they will pay for the older two and not the baby due to new rules. However, do you know if I could claim the childcare element for my third child? I've written in my journal but have been awaiting a response for weeks. This is all new to me.... one of the mums at toddlers suggested that I put in a claim as I'm struggling to work out how I'm going to manage my childcare bill.... I have got the opportunity to wfh but not sure how I'd manage with a young baby. I am a lone parent but there dad is happy to do 50:50 with our young baby. Just wondering what my options are. Thank you in advance x

Yes I believe you can claim childcare for your third child but not the child element so make sure you have added all three of your children to your claim so that you can claim childcare for all of them.

How old is your youngest? I'd be very wary of doing 50/50 with a baby.

Yes you can claim childcare for a third child but there is an upper limit I believe.

Baby is currently 12 weeks x I'm not due to go back until September. Dad can WFH on alternate weeks - it's his company- he's pulled a bit of a fast one in terms of Child Support so financially I'd benefit from alternative weeks 😌 as I would save an enormous amount in childcare... I'm still digesting this new way of life. I can't afford not to work and in my field it could be career suicide.

You can claim up to 85% of childcare costs for third and subsequent chikdren.