Why can't we get funded childcare?

[boymama82]

I'm so confused! We moved to a new area 2 years ago with our 1 year old and new born. We found out (much to our surprise) that we were entitled to universal credit. My fiancé works full time and we own our house outright as partner had inheritance from father passing away. So as part of this we were given 15 hours childcare for our eldest son when he turned 2 (he was born June 2020) fast forward to this year and I've ensured our youngest (born July 2021) has a place at the same nursery only to find out we're not entitled to childcare for our youngest and it'll cost us £360 a month for him, plus nappy and food charges for both so over £400 a month.

I've been searching for jobs for months, looking to work on the days when my partner is off, I'm really struggling! I had a half decent career before children but I was 38 and kept suffering miscarriages so I gave it up to focus on conceiving. We are still sending our youngest and paying the fees but people keep telling me it should be 15 hours for each child? Any advice welcome, I'm still looking for work, just a simple part time job.

We don't have any family nearby to help so could only use a nursery. I've been on the gov website and it just keeps saying no childcare allowance for our youngest but eldest has 15 hours. I know it sounds awful but it's been a difficult period with 2 under 2 and I was looking forward to the 15 hours to myself to search for work, catch up on housework etc! Our 2nd son was a surprise, I was on the pill and didn't think we could conceive on our own after a very difficult first pregnancy with daily injections etc.

Might the second only be eligible from September, ie term after their second birthday?

Yes that's when I'm applying from but I've put his date of birth in? Baffled

This happened to us, DS qualified for 15 hours at age 2, but DD, 21 months younger, did not.

So as I understand it, once you qualify for the 2yo funding, you keep eligibility for that child until they start school. But if your circumstances change, so that you are not eligible any more, you won't get it for subsequent kids.

This is the criteria:

To access free childcare for 2 year olds, you must be getting one or more of the following benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments
• The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit (or both), and your household income is £16,190 a year or less before tax
• The Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

I suspect that what's happened is that your income at the time of your first application was under the threshold, but now it's over, and so you don't qualify. You retain the entitlement for the first child but it's assessed per child, so nothing for the second one I'm afraid.

Ah ok, well that's rubbish but thanks for info, my partners wage has increased slightly but certainly not enough to cover over £400 a month! We'd rather be skint and give the youngest the same opportunity though! 🤷‍♀️🙄

If you are able to find a job, you might be able to claim back some of the childcare costs via your universal credit. But both parents need to be working where it's a joint claim, unless there is a health condition or disability stopping one of you from working.

www.gov.uk/universal-credit/what-youll-get

I know that this isn't what you're asking about, but why do you think your child is getting better opportunities at nursery than being at home with you and going to toddler groups? There's no evidence to support that. Nurseries are useful for people who need them and there is benefit to the children if their parents aren't capable of looking after them well. But your youngest wouldn't be missing out by not going at age 2.