Childcare Bills to be Cut by 20%

From 2015, the Conservative led Government will pay 20% of childcare bills for working families – up to £1,200 per child.

Conservatives have been clear that we’ll do everything we can to make life easier for families in Britain.

At the moment, too many parents get up early and work hard and but see their income swallowed in childcare costs. Others simply can’t afford to work because nurseries and child minders are too expensive.

That’s why the Government has announced plans to dramatically cut the cost of childcare.

The plan’s very simple and works like this:

From 2015, the Conservative led Government is going to pay 20% of a working family’s childcare bills every year – up to £1,200 per child. This effectively gives people their tax back for childcare costs.

• We’ll begin by helping those with children under five – but year by year we’ll extend it until all children under twelve are covered
• It’s for families where all parents work – so of course it applies to working single mums and dads too
• This offer is only for families where no parent earns over £150k, nor receives tax credits, Universal Credit or Employer Supported Childcare

This is real money that will help 2.5 million families – the average family with 2 children will be up to £2,400 a year better off.

The scheme will be delivered through an online account which parents set up. For every 80p parents put in, the Government will put in 20p.  The new scheme will help 5 times as many families as the current system of Employer Supported Childcare vouchers, which are only offered by 5% of businesses.

This additional support for families follows several other steps that Conservatives in Government have taken to help with the cost of living. We’ve cut tax for 24 million people, stopped Labour’s fuel duty rises, frozen council tax for 3 years and are forcing energy companies to put their customers on the lowest available tariff.

Make no mistake – tough choices need to be made as we clear up Labour’s mess. But we’ll always back people who work hard and want a better life for themselves and their children.