Budget 2023: Jeremy Hunt announces multi-billion free childcare expansion

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Jeremy Hunt has promised a major expansion of state-funded childcare as part of the budget package to spur economic growth.

< p>He promised up to 30 hours a week of free childcare for eligible households in England with children as young as nine months, up from three and four under the current policy.

The phased plan to remove barriers to work, which will be fully introduced by September 2025, will be worth up to £6,500 a year for working families.

It s is also committed to extending comprehensive care at the start and end of the school day for parents of older children and changes to staff-to-child ratios in England to expand childcare provision.

Mr. Hunt said: "We have one of the most expensive systems in the world. Almost half of non-working mothers said they would rather work if they could arrange adequate childcare.

"For many women, a career break becomes the end of a career. Our female labor force participation rate is above the average for OECD economies, but we lag behind top performers like Denmark and the Netherlands. If we equaled Dutch participation levels, there would be over a million more women who want to work, in the labor force. And we can.'

He told the Commons: "I am announcing today that in eligible households where all adults work at least 16 hours, we will introduce 30 hours of free childcare, not just for three- and four-year-olds, but for each child over nine months."

"The offer of 30 hours as will now begin when the maternity or paternity leave ends,” Hunt continued.

He said the flat rate would average £6,500 a year for a family with a two-year-old child using 35 hours of childcare a week, reducing their childcare costs by nearly by 60%.< /p>

Mr. Hunt said the reforms were so important that they should be introduced in stages to ensure there is sufficient supply in the market.

"Working parents with two-year-olds should be able to access 15 hours of free care from April 2024, helping around half a million parents,” he said.

“From September 2024, these 15 hours will be extended to all children starting at 9 months, meaning a total of nearly one million parents will be eligible.