Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many 3-4 year old children are ineligible for 30 hours of free childcare as a result of (a) one parent and (b) both parents not meeting the minimum earnings threshold.

The Department aims to ensure parents have access to a range of affordable childcare, giving them increased flexibility in their working hours and helping children thrive in the crucial early years. The Department is planning to spend more than £3.6 billion to support our early education entitlements in 2020-21.

All 3-4-year-old children in England are eligible for the universal entitlement to 15 hours a week of early education. The additional 15 hours of early education a week, known as ’30 hours’, is available to families where both parents are working, or the sole parent is working in a lone parent family. To be eligible, each parent in a two-parent family, or the sole parent, must earn less than £100,000 a year and more than the equivalent to 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or national living wage (currently £6,800 a year). This also includes self-employed parents and parents on zero-hour contracts.

All children aged 4 at 31 August in England are entitled to a place in a reception class at school starting that September.

The Department for Education estimates that in January 2019, 530,000 3-4-year-olds were ineligible for the additional 15 hours due to one or both of their parents earning below the lower income threshold. This is estimated as follows (figures rounded to nearest 10,000):

• There were 1,370,000 children aged 3 or 4 at 31 December 2018.
• 410,000 4-year-olds were in a reception place in January 2019.
• A further 410,000 3-4 year-olds were eligible for 30 hours.
• 20,000 3-4-year-olds were ineligible for 30 hours due to one of their parents earning over £100,000 per year. This is estimated using the Survey of Personal Incomes publication.
• Therefore we estimate that there are 530,000 3-4-year-olds who are ineligible for 30 hours because their parents do not meet the minimum income requirements. This includes families where one or both parents choose not to or are unable to work.

The Department does not hold information on these estimated 530,000 children separated out as requested in parts a and b of the question.

There is support available for parents with childcare costs outside of the free early education entitlements. Eligible families can get help with 85% of their childcare costs through Universal Credit, subject to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1108 for two or more children. Further information can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/what-youll-get. Families can receive help with the costs of childcare from the Tax-Free Childcare scheme.