{"id":110831,"date":"2025-07-16T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=110831"},"modified":"2025-07-16T12:09:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T11:09:57","slug":"martin-lewis-parents-claim-free-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/martin-lewis-parents-claim-free-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Lewis Warns Parents to Claim \u2018Free Money\u2019 Towards Childcare Before It\u2019s Too Late"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, has issued a timely warning to UK households, urging parents to claim the government\u2019s Tax-Free Childcare<\/strong> bonus. Speaking on ITV\u2019s This Morning<\/em>, Lewis highlighted that more than 800,000 working families are missing out on up to \u00a32,000<\/strong> annually to help with the cost of childcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The money-saving expert has raised concerns over the misleading name of the scheme, stating that it should be called the \u201cworking families childcare top-up.\u201d According to Lewis, the scheme is not related to tax or tax-free income, but is a government-funded initiative designed to ease the financial burden on parents who are paying for childcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Simple Scheme With Significant Benefits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Tax-Free Childcare scheme is a government-backed initiative aimed at providing financial relief to working families. Parents <\/a>can receive up to \u00a3500 per quarter<\/strong>, equating to \u00a32,000 per year<\/strong> for each child.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system operates by matching a portion of the funds parents deposit into a dedicated tax-free childcare account<\/strong>. For every \u00a380 a parent contributes, the state adds an additional \u00a320. This amount can be used to pay for a variety of childcare services, including nursery care, childminders, and after-school clubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Lewis, the scheme has already helped millions of families, yet an alarming number of eligible parents are not claiming the benefit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He estimates that approximately 825,000 <\/strong>out of 1.3 million eligible families are missing out on the financial support. He is now campaigning to rename the scheme, calling it the \u201cworking families childcare top-up\u201d to make its purpose clearer to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eligibility and Criteria<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the Tax-Free Childcare<\/a> scheme offers significant financial assistance, it is important to note that not all families qualify. To be eligible, parents must meet certain criteria.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, the child in question must be aged 11 or younger, unless they have a disability, in which case the age limit extends to 16. Additionally, parents must be working and earning at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week<\/strong> at the national minimum wage. For example, a person aged 21 or above must earn at least \u00a310,000 per year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, families cannot claim the bonus if they are already receiving Universal Credit<\/strong> or childcare vouchers<\/strong>, as the scheme offers an alternative support structure for those families. However, for eligible parents, the benefits of this scheme are clear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u00a32,000 annual bonus can help significantly reduce the financial burden of childcare, making it an essential resource for working families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parents could be missing out on a crucial financial boost. Martin Lewis has alerted UK households to a government childcare bonus, worth up to \u00a32,000 a year. This free money can ease the cost of childcare, but many families aren\u2019t claiming it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":110833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-welfare","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110831"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110834,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110831\/revisions\/110834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}