Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2017 to Question 62482, on children: day care, of those children who will not be eligible for the 30 hours of free childcare, how many will not be eligible because their parents are (a) unemployed, (b) earning below the minimum requirement and (c) earning over £100,000 a year.

As per the answer of 7 February 2017 to Question 62482, we have provisionally estimated from the Survey of Personal Incomes and the Family Resources Survey that, of those currently in receipt of the 15 hours free entitlement, approximately 520,000 will not be eligible for the additional 15 hours. The additional 15 hours is an entitlement to support parents in work. The estimated breakdown in terms of the reason for these children not being eligible is: a) 400,000 children because one or both of their parents are not in work, b) 110,000 children because one or both of their parents are earning below the minimum threshold; and c) 10,000 children because at least one of their parents is earning above the maximum threshold.

It is important to remember that all 3- and 4-year olds are entitled to the 15 hours a week universal early education entitlement, regardless of whether their parents are in work. The most disadvantaged two year olds are also entitled to 15 hours a week of funded early education. Lower income parents who do not meet the income criteria for 30 hours may be able to claim up to 70% of their childcare costs through tax credits, or 85% of their childcare costs through the childcare element of Universal Credit.