A FAMILY with a toddler have revealed they won’t see a penny of Jeremy Hunt’s free childcare.
The Chancellor revealed as part of today’s Budget that millions of parents will now get 30 hours free childcare.
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Hunt‘s move will extend help for working mums and dads in a bid to get more Brits back to the office and boost the economy.
But, an Essex family says they’ve been cut off, and won’t see a penny.
‘WON’T HELP US’
Parents Ashling, 28, and Bradley Marsh have two daughters – Emily, six, and Daisy, two.
And mum Ashling said she hoped to be £950-a-month better off thanks to the Chancellor bringing in the scheme for youngsters under two.
But because the change doesn’t kick in until April 2024, the Marshs will have to still pay for two-year-old Daisy’s childcare – until she turns three.
As when wee Dasiy turns three the family will receive 30 free hours a week under the current system.
That means the bingo worker and her 27-year-old husband, who live with her parents in Romford, will continue to find £950-a-month to cover nursery care.
And they’re forced to pull that from their £2,500 joint earnings so they can work.
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Ashling says: “Free childcare for under twos won’t help us sadly. Why can’t it be put in place earlier?
“Bradley works at a nursery and they really struggle to find staff to cover the kids so how is the government going to find all these extra nursery staff for the thousands of extra kids in nursery?”
‘WORKED OUT PERFECTLY’
But there are millions who will benefit from Hunt’s move, including mum-of-tow Sairah Zaman.
Sairah, 37, works as a part-time civil servant and will be £15,000 better off as a result.
The Manchester mum and husband Assad, 44, have two boys – Hakeem, three, and baby Hassan.
And as their youngest is just ten weeks old, they will reap the full benefit of the childcare changes.
From September 2024 Hassan will get 15 hours of free childcare a week and a year later he will receive 30 hours.
Because by September 2025, all children over nine months will have free childcare for the first time.
Delighted Sairah said: “It’s worked out perfectly for us.
“We paid almost £900 a month for my older son’s childcare and that was just for three days a week.
“Next year I plan to go back to work for 25 hours a week. Childcare would have been expensive but now we won’t have to worry about costs.
“And with 30 free hours, I could up my work hours.”
‘£6,000 EVERY YEAR’
The huge change is among at least seven changes revealed in the Budget today.
The parents of any youngster over nine months will get the free childcare a week in future – for the first time ever – as long as both parents are working 16 hours a week.
The Chancellor says it will be worth £6,000 every year for a family with a two-year-old child.
Mr Hunt said: “We have the one of the most expensive systems in the world. Almost half of non-working mothers said they would prefer to work if they could arrange suitable childcare.
“For many women, a career break becomes a career end. Our female participation rate is higher than average for OECD economies, but we trail top performers like Denmark and the Netherlands.
“If we matched Dutch levels of participation, there would be more than one million more women who want to work, in the labour force. And we can.”
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