Universal credit

Everyone gets free childcare for 2 year olds (or virtually everyone, unless your income is very high). It’s not related to UC 😊

@Sophie everyone is entitled to free childcare at 3. Only 2 year olds if you are on certain benefits

I wish that was true sophie and it will be hopefully next April 🤞 I’d say your best bet is to send a message through UC and see what they suggest as if it’s a case of the month you get UC it’s free but then when you don’t it isn’t you’ll still have a nursery bill to pay which won’t be helpful. You may be able to have the up to 85% childcare payment which UC do

I think they are changing it next year though

@Sophie they are changing it next April, but currently not everyone gets free childcare at 2

It is best to call UC they will be able to give you all the information they will be changing it never year

What do you mean when you say free childcare is for ‘working’ parents? 
Working parents who individually earn more than £8,670 (from April 2023) but less than £100,000 per year are eligible. 
If you’re in a couple, the rules apply to both of you, so you must both earn at least £8,670 and neither one of you can earn more than £100,000. 
Who is eligible for free childcare now? 
Currently, all three- and four-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours per week of free childcare or early education, rising to 30 hours for working families, and 15 hours for disadvantaged two-year-olds, over 38 weeks of the year.

I think by disadvantaged two year olds they mean parents that are not working or earning little -

Your 2-year-old can get free childcare if you live in England and get any 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)