Double income families to get childcare boost
FAMILIES with two working parents are set to receive up to £1,200 per child each year towards childcare, under new government plans.
The government is this morning set to announce a formal consultation on the £1bn scheme, which was proposed earlier this year. The taxpayer-funded help will be introduced in 2015, with working families able to use online vouchers to claim 20p for every 80p they pay for childcare.
Even households with a joint income of up to £300,000 will be able to draw on the fund.
Under current plans, the scheme will be for children under five when it is first brought in, then extended to all those under 12 by 2020.
But while the support will benefit 2.5m households, it has drawn fire from the stay-at-home parents – numbering around 1.2m – who will not be able to claim.
Lynne Burnham, from the campaign group Mothers At Home Matter (MAHM) said: It is completely incongruous for the government to be paying £1,200 per child for families on joint incomes of £300,000 yet taking away child benefit from single earner couples on £50,000.”