Universal credit and tax free childcare.

i earn 1700 and get just under 500 UC and 30 hours gov funded and the rest 80% off c

Thank you. When I had my first & second month of Mat pay it was too much so I didn’t get anything from UC.
I have now been paid £1152 and I got £241 from UC.

I know I can now get the 80% for the child tax free and the funded 30 hours the term after my baby turns 9 months. But I’m wondering when I go back to work when he’s 10 months old, my pay will then go back up and I won’t get the UC. But will I still get the 80%?

i don’t know tbh i think you have to receive something from UC, but there s a facebook group called UC survival and there’s some great mods on there that can tell you c

thanks so much!!

You can’t be on UC and receive tax free childcare, it’s one or the other.

You either have to close your UC claim completely to claim the 20% tax free or you stay on UC and claim childcare of up to 85% back through them.

Wages still affect every element though so you may not get the full 85% paid back plus you will have to pay childcare upfront and then claim back the childcare that’s used in your assessment period which for the first month or two may be a lot less than what you pay depending on your assessment dates