What does the increase to 30 hours childcare funding mean ?

As you may be aware from September 2016 selected councils will have an increase in the funding hours that your child is entitled to,from 15-30 hours per week !. What you may not be aware of is not everyone is entitled to this increase in the selected councils . In order to claim the extra 15 hours both parents or sole parent is working , and have to work at least 16 hours a week at the national minimum wage or living wage and earn Less than £100’000 a year .

what councils are going to be included in the funding increase?

• North West: Stockport, Bolton, Trafford, Cheshire West and Chester, Bury
• Midlands: Nottinghamshire, Nottingham City, Walsall
• South West: Cornwall
• South East: Hampshire, West Sussex, Medway, East Sussex, Brighton and Hove
• London and East of England: Kingston and Richmond, Barking and Dagenham, Islington, Ealing, Hillingdon
• North East and Yorkshire and the Humber: Gateshead, Bradford, Sheffield, Eastriding, Wakefield, North Yorkshire
I look at the funding increase with two different hats on the first being a parent. If this increase in funding hours does work then it will be so beneficial for me when Ava is three and In nursery . It means providing I have no younger children that I can go back to work for more hours. Which In turn will increase our household income.Also it will give Ava a greater opportunity to enjoy and be involved in her education .As the cost of a reputable nursery is high I wouldn’t be able to pay for her to go for the extra hours

I then look at it with my work hat on , the cost per hour for funding is a lot less than what was promised at what most childcare providers would charge per hour . Meaning nurseries may have to employee lower qualified staff or apprentices , to counteract this low hourly rate. Which no nursery really wants to do as they want to offer the best standard of care for the children attending the nursery. Also some nurseries may not be able to accommodate this due to ratios and number of children aloud in the setting . This doesn’t mean they are not an outstanding childcare provider just that they have to keep within the laws and cannot accommodate it.

So what are you thought ?

Did you find this helpful would you like to read more posts like this ?

*All opinions shown above are my own and are not connected anyway to my workplace*