The Department for Education attributed some of the drop in two-year-olds registered for 15-hour childcare to a ‘sizeable fall’ in the birth rate between 2015 and 2020, but said that 'declines in birth rates only partially explain' the decrease in the number of two-year-olds eligible and registered for the 15-hour entitlement.
In a note on the statistics it also attributed it to changes in the benefits system. The fall in parents of two-year-olds receiving legacy benefits (a decrease of 190,000 between 2018 and 2023) hasn't been offset by the rise in those receiving Universal Credit, it said.
In addition, the maximum income thresholds for the eligibility criteria have remained unchanged in recent years while average incomes have increased.
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