Nursery World - Budget targets childcare

Parents on low incomes with pre-school-age children will be able to claim up to 9,600 a year towards their childcare costs as part of the Government's aim to make registered childcare affordable to all. The news came in last week's Budget announcement by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. From June the childcare tax credit element of the Working Families Tax Credit for parents using registered childcare will increase from the current maximum of 100 to 135 per week for one child and from 150 to 200 for two or more children.

The news came in last week's Budget announcement by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. From June the childcare tax credit element of the Working Families Tax Credit for parents using registered childcare will increase from the current maximum of 100 to 135 per week for one child and from 150 to 200 for two or more children.

The Treasury credited a recent Daycare Trust survey (News, 8 February) with influencing the new amounts. The survey found a typical day nursery place for a two-year-old costs between 110 and 135 a week (5,700 to 7,000 a year), while placing a child with a registered childminder costs about 90 a week (4,500 a year).

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