Parenting Support

Parenting – Help you can receive

Here you can learn about the help available to parents, this includes financial support and help with childcare.

Child Benefit

Child benefit can be claimed for a child once it is born. You get Child Benefit if you’re responsible for bringing up a child who is:

under 16
under 20 if they stay in approved education or training

Only one person can get Child Benefit for a child.

It’s paid every 4 weeks and there’s no limit to how many children you can claim for.

How much is it?

You’ll receive £21.05 for your first child and £13.95 for any other children you may have.

Make a claim for the first time

Fill in Child Benefit claim form CH2 and send it to the Child Benefit Office. The address is on the form.

If your child is adopted, send their original adoption certificate with the form.

If you do not have the certificate you need, send your claim form now and send the certificate once you’ve got it.

THIS WILL TAKE YOU TO AN ONLINE VERSION OF THE FORM, YOU WILL HAVE TO PRINT IT OFF AFTER FILLING IT IN

Healthy Start Vouchers

Healthy Start is a scheme run by the NH. If you’re pregnant or have a child under 4, you could get Healthy Start vouchers to help buy some basic foods and to get vitamins from local shops.

Pregnant women and children over 1 and under 4 can get one £3.10 voucher per week. Children under 1 can get two £3.10 vouchers (£6.20) per week.

The vouchers can be spent on things such as milk, vegetables and fruit.

To get these vouchers depends on your income. They will look at any benefits you are claiming to decide whether you can get the vouchers.

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/

Sure Start Maternity Grant

You could get a one-off payment of £500 to help towards the costs of having a child. This is known as a Sure Start Maternity Grant. It is usually given to someone having a child for the first time. There are certain criteria you must fulfil to get the grant but one of them is being on Universal Credit. The Gov.uk website has more details about how to get the grant and who is entitled to it.

https://www.gov.uk/sure-start-maternity-grant

Help with Childcare

You can get help paying for childcare if it’s provided by a:

registered childminder, nanny, playscheme, nursery or club
childminder or nanny with a registered childminder agency or childcare agency
registered school
home care worker working for a registered home care agency

This is known as ‘approved childcare’

Free education and childcare for 2-year-olds

Your 2-year-old can get free childcare if you live in England and get one of the following benefits:

Income Support
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Universal Credit, and your household income is £15,400 a year or less after tax, not including benefit payments
tax credits, and your household income is £16,190 a year or less before tax
the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
the Working Tax Credit 4-week run on (the payment you get when you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

15 hours free childcare for 3 and 4-year-olds

All 3 to 4-year-olds in England can get 570 free hours per year. It’s usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year, but you can choose to take fewer hours over more weeks.

It must be with an approved provider.

Some people are also entitled to 30 hours free childcare for 2 to 4 year olds. You can check if you are eligible on the link below.

CHECK YOUR ELIGIBILITY FOR 30 HOURS FREE CHILDCARE

CARE TO LEARN

The CARE TO LEARN scheme can help with childcare costs while you study. You must be aged under 20 at the start of your course. The scheme is available for publicly-funded courses in England. This includes courses in:

You can get up to:

£160 per child per week if you live outside London
£175 per child per week if you live in London

CARE TO LEARN can help with the cost of:

your childcare, including deposit and registration fees
a childcare taster session for up to 5 days
keeping your childcare place over the summer holidays
taking your child to their childcare provider

Childcare payments go directly to your childcare provider. Before they can be paid:

your childcare provider needs to confirm your child's attendance
your school or college needs to confirm that you're attending the course

Go to the main Parenting page