62 Saturday April 9 2022 | the times
Money
Start aimed at disadvantaged areas, but
this is not available everywhere in
Wales. You can find out if it is available
in your area at gov.wales/get-help-fly-
ing-start.
In Scotland, all three and four-year-
olds are entitled to 1,140 hours of free
early learning and childcare regardless
of their parents’ working hours, which
works out as 30 hours for each of the
38 weeks of term, or about 22 hours a
week across the whole year. This can be
provided at settings such as nurseries,
childminders or playgroups.
Some two-year-olds are also eligible
for up to 30 hours if they have been in
care, for example by a local authority, or
if their parents are on benefits.
Less free childcare is available in
Northern Ireland, where all three and
four-year-olds are entitled to 12.5 hours
a week of free pre-school education.
They can be used only to secure a pre-
school place for 2.5 hours a day, five days
a week during term-time (38 weeks).
Although the funded pre-school
places are available for every child,
parents must apply for it through the
Northern Ireland education authority.Charné Bester-
Jenkinson, 30, from
the Cotswolds, had
baby Ella in March- When she came
back from maternity
leave in January to
her job working 35
hours a week in sales,
she quickly realised
she would struggle to
afford the cost of
childcare and her
company would not
allow her to have
flexible working.
Bester-Jenkinson,
whose husband is in
the RAF, earned
£25,000 a year in her
job, but found she had
to pay more than
£900 a month —
£10,800 a year — to
send Ella to nursery
five days a week to
cover her hours.
This was 43 per cent
of her salary and
double what she
and her husband
pay in rent.
“If you take in
the cost of rent,
shopping, petrol
and the car, it took
up all our
disposable
income,” she said.
“Given the real-
terms pay cut I
had, it was hardly
worth working. We
had to massively
downsize our car.”
Bester-Jenkinson
ended up moving to a
job that allows her to
work three 11-hour
days, one on aSaturday, which gives
her three clear days
off in the week. She
has cut Ella’s nursery
days down to two a
week, reducing her
childcare bill to
£500 a month.Saturdaywhichgives‘Going back to work was
like taking a pay cut’
0 Claim your free hours — and don’t
be fooled by sneaky charges
If you’re a parent of a three or four-
year-old in England, you’re entitled to
30 hours of free childcare per week in
term time, which works out as 38 weeks
of the year. The provider must be on
Ofsted’s childcare register, which
includes childminders, day nurseries,
playgroups, pre-schools and nursery
schools. The hours cannot be used for a
nanny (even an Ofsted-registered one).
You’ll get your free hours as long as
neither you nor your partner earns
more than £100,000 a year. Both
parents must also earn or expect to
earn at least £1,976 over the next three
months when they apply — the equiva-
lent of 16 hours a week paid at the
national minimum wage or living wage.
Some parents complain that many of
those supposedly “free” places are not
really free because many nurseries levy
optional fees on top.
Nurseries are allowed to ask for
payments to cover the cost of things
such as snacks, lunch and extra-
curricular activities, for example music
classes. Providers are not allowed to
make these fees compulsory — they
can only be described as voluntary.
Remember to shop around. Some
private nurseries either do not partici-
pate in the 30 hours scheme, or if they
do they have hefty voluntary charges.
Childcarechoices.gov.uk lets you enter
your details and check your eligibility
for nurseries that do take part and
check their voluntary charges. A gener-
al guide can be found at gov.uk/30-
hours-free-childcare.
In Wales and Scotland, the rules dif-
fer slightly. In Wales, children aged
three and four can get up to 30 hours
free childcare per week, but not every-
one is eligible for the full amount. The
30 hours are split into ten hours of early
education through a scheme called
Foundation Phase Nursery, to which
every child in Wales is entitled, and up
to 20 hours of childcare. Both are avail-
able for 48 weeks a year.
Foundation Phase Nursery is a
Welsh-only course specifically dedi-
cated to helping children to get ready
for school with an emphasis on learning
through play. It can take place in nur-
series and childminders and parents
can choose their own provider. You can
send your child to this regardless of
whether you’re working.
To get the 20 hours of free childcare
on top of this you and your partner
must both earn at least the national
minimum wage for 16 hours per week
on average and less than £100,000 a
year each. Some two-year-olds are
eligible for 12.5 hours per week for 39
weeks as part of a scheme called FlyingHow to survive
childcare costs
Nursery can cost
more than housing.
David Byers explains
what help is available
their mortgage, according to a survey of
27,000 parents by the campaign groups
Mumsnet and Pregnant Then Screwed.
This rises to 73 per cent for single
parents.
But there are ways you can get help
with the cost — if you can navigate the
complex rules.T
he UK has the world’s third
most expensive childcare,
research by the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation
and Development suggests.
More than 60 per cent of parents are
paying nurseries or childminders either
the same as or more than they do for