85% back on childcare cost

If you earn too much for UC, you could try tax free childcare instead

I asked if there was any restrictions on how much you are allowed to earn etc. and was advised no, but will defo look into that option. Thanks!

If you earn that much per month, you won't be eligible for UC. You can apply for tax free childcare instead.

Childcare costs are included as part of your whole UC entitlement and no element is protected so if your wages are wiping out your entitlement then you won’t get childcare costs back

Right. But my understanding is the 85% back scheme is for working parents who earn less than 100k combined? I’m a single parent that earns approx £35k p/a. Surely I should qualify for assistance without deductions no?

What's UC?
Is this an American thing or UK or Canada? I've never heard of this.

it’s a UK thing. Stands for universal credit a government assisted scheme

Damn, the UK has way better benifits. I'm jealous we don't even get paid maternity leave here 😒

No working parents get 20% top up from gov (capped at £500 every 3 months). There is the 15 free hours for 9 months plus from Sept 2024 too. This can be used combined with the 20% child care.

The 85% is for those receiving benefits.

Earning less than 100K might make you eligible, but it doesn’t guarantee you’ll get it becos of the way UC works.
If you think your entitlement is wrong post on a group called ‘universal credit survival’ on Facebook and ask for a calculation, they’re really helpful.

ok thank you. Is the 20% top up the child tax free scheme or something else? How do I apply

You create and account on the gov gateway and you can add your child's nursery in. You pay the 80% nursery and the gov tops up 20% within a day. You then can pay the nursery from there. There is a referencr code that you give to your nursery to track your payment. You have to reconfirm your info every 3 months to reset your £500 entitlement.

If your nursery fee is more than £833 per month, you will pay more than 80%. So however much it is per month * 3 months - 500, then divided by 3 is what you put in monthly.

I hope that helps.

It’s annoying but I doubt it. We looked into if I didn’t go back to work and just had my husbands salary to avoid the huge childcare costs it’s less than 35k too and we wouldn’t get a penny help 🙄 so when I do go back to work after childcare I’ll have about 200 left a month 😑

So i looked into this and I was told that if you’re living at home with parents the maximum you can earn before UC start taking money off of you is £631 per month then after that every pound you make they take 55p. If you live on your own and get help with housing benefit then the maximum you can earn per month is £379 or £371 (one of two cant remember) and then same again.. after that every pound they take 55p from each pound. I dont believe there is a cap from what I was told as they take from you. So i would contact the job centre to clarify. X

I just re read your post. I thought it was they cover upto 85% of the costs and you pay 25% x