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Childcare Cost Calculator

Work out what childcare really costs after the free childcare hours and the Tax-Free Childcare 20% top-up - per child - and check eligibility and key dates. Worked out in your browser; nothing is sent to a server.

Your children

Your work

Separated parents: these checks apply to the household where the child mainly lives (you, plus your partner if you have one). Child maintenance you pay or receive doesn't count as income here, and only one household can claim per child.

Free childcare hours - eligibility & key dates

Fill in your children and work details above to check eligibility and see each child's key dates.

Your childcare costs - per child, from your invoice or estimated

Day length & funding settings
A single "supplement" per funded day covers whatever your nursery charges on funded hours (meals, nappies/consumables, extra activities, an extra half-hour). By law these extras are optional and the nursery must let you provide your own (e.g. packed lunch, nappies) to reduce them. Official guidance: free childcare for working parents and free hours for 3 to 4 year olds.

Your costs & savings

These are estimated costs. Every nursery bills differently - how they apply funded hours, what supplements they add, how many weeks a year they charge - so treat these as a guide and check against your own invoice.

Free childcare hours

£0
Full cost / month
£0
With free hours / month

Tax-Free Childcare

£0
You pay in / month
£0
Government tops up / month
Your savings
£0
Saved by free hours / month
£0
Saved by Tax-Free Childcare / month
£0
Total saved / month
Enter each child's fees above to see your costs and savings.

Month-by-month costs

See how your bill changes through the year. It steps down when funded hours start - the term after each child qualifies. Add a nursery start date for each child in the costs section above to begin from the right month.

How the free childcare hours work

Working parents in England can get up to 30 funded hours a week from the term after their child turns 9 months, until they start school. All 3 and 4 year olds get 15 universal hours whatever you earn. Funded hours are term time (38 weeks) but can be "stretched" over the year at fewer hours a week. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own schemes.

What you can be charged on funded hours

Funded hours must be free. Nurseries can only add optional charges for meals, consumables (nappies, sun cream) and extra activities - and must offer alternatives, so you can provide your own to cut the cost. Invoices must itemise these separately. That's the "supplement" in this tool.

How Tax-Free Childcare works

For every £8 you pay into a Tax-Free Childcare account, the government adds £2 - a 20% top-up, capped at £2,000 a year per child (£4,000 for a disabled child). You can use it alongside the free hours. You'll usually need to be working and earning at least about £10,575 a year each, and under £100,000 each. See Tax-Free Childcare on GOV.UK.