Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to remove barriers to women returning to work after giving birth.

Lots of women want to work after having children. Universal Credit is designed to ensure that women get the flexible support they need to return to work. All claimants, including women returning to work after giving birth, are set requirements that take into account their circumstances and capability, including caring responsibilities.

For claimants with children aged two to four, support has also been adjusted so that these claimants are able to attend refresher training courses for up to a year, where it will improve their chance of returning to a previous occupation.

Additionally, where a claimant is caring for a pre-school age child, additional safeguards apply, as such, any work-related expectations are limited. Those expected to search for work can limit the time they can spend travelling to and from work. Lead carers are given longer to attend an interview or take up work so they can arrange childcare.

The Department is aware that for some UC claimants childcare costs can present a challenge for parents returning to work. To support parents when returning to work, eligible UC claimants can claim back up to 85% of their registered childcare costs each month regardless of the number of hours they work.

This is up to the maximum amount of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children. From Summer 2023, the Department will increase the generosity of the UC childcare costs ‘caps’ (maximum amounts) - allowing parents to claim back over £300 more for one child or over £500 for two or more children of their childcare costs per month.  This will increase the caps to £950.92 for one child and £1,630.15 for two or more children. For families with two or more children, this could be worth over £19,500 a year.

By September 2025, eligible working parents of children aged 9 months to when they start school will be able to get 30 hours of free childcare in England.