Parents claiming universal credit will receive hundreds of pounds more from the end of June, the government has announced.
The Department for Work and Pensions is raising the amount parents can claim by almost 50% from 28 June, it said on Tuesday.
The move, which will raise the amount that can be claimed from £646 for one child to £951, and from £1,108 for two or more children to £1,630, was first announced by the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in this year’s budget. Under the changes, parents will also be able to claim 85% of their payments upfront rather than having to pay for childcare and then reclaim the costs as benefits.
The measures are part of a wider package of childcare support designed to help parents get back to work and boost the UK’s lagging productivity levels.
Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, confirmed on Tuesday that it would come into force within weeks.
Stride said: “These changes will help thousands of parents progress their career without compromising the quality of the care that their children receive.
“By helping more parents to re-enter and progress in work, we will be able to cut inactivity and help grow the economy.”
Hunt announced in March that he would expand the amount of money available to help parents pay for childcare by £4bn, the biggest proportion of which would be spent on increasing the number of children who qualify for free care.
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Ministers are also spending money on a recruitment drive for more childminders, while the Department for Education is launching a consultation on how to attract more people into the early years workforce.
The separate expansion in UC payments was designed to give more immediate help to lower earners, who often find it difficult to fund the upfront costs of childcare, even if they can claim it back later.
Helen Hayes, Labour’s shadow children’s minister, said: “The Conservatives are piling pressure on a broken system. Their plans come with no plan to increase the workforce, who are so critical to delivering an expansion of childcare.”
