Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department has any plans to extend the 30 hours free childcare entitlement to include families where one parent is retired and one works full time.

The 30 hours free childcare entitlement aims to support working families with the cost of childcare and to support parents back into work or to work more hours should they wish to.

This offer is available to parents who earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the national minimum/living wage, and under £100,000 adjusted net income per year. This means that parents can be eligible if they earn from just over £167 per week or £8,670 per year. In a two-parent family, both parents must expect to meet this income criteria to be eligible for 30 hours free childcare.

The entitlement aims to support parents back into work and in order to be eligible both parents must be in work. The department is currently not planning to extend this to families where one parent is retired and the other works full-time.

All parents are eligible for 15 hours of free early education, which is available to all three- and four-year olds regardless of family circumstances.