Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of comprehensive childcare access on (a) levels of underemployment among parents and (b) improving local economies.

No such impact assessment has been made.

Childcare costs should not be a barrier to getting into work; this Government is committed to helping parents into work. Universal Credit pays up to 85% of childcare costs regardless of the hours worked, compared to 70% in legacy benefits and can be claimed up to a month before starting a job. In cases where people need to pay for childcare upfront prior to starting work, Work Coaches can use the Flexible Support Fund for eligible claimants to meet these costs until their first wage is received.

All three and four year olds in England are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare each week, providing children with high-quality early education and helping parents to return to work.

Additionally, 30 hours free childcare was introduced in England in September 2017 and is an entitlement for working parents of three and four year olds. To be eligible, both parents, or a single parent, must earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum/ living wage (for parents aged 23 or over, this would work out at just over £7,400 per year) and less than £100,000 per year.