[AD] Childcare Offer for Wales Helping Working Parents Financially

It is mid-December and I’m sure like me, a lot of you are right in the middle of getting ready for Christmas. As a father of five children it is not a cheap time of year. For us as a married couple the strain on our finances are worse during the Christmas run up, than at any other time of the year.

There is so much to buy. We have presents for the children and family, and on top of that there’s all the food for the festive period. Of course we save during the year for Christmas to reduce the impact it will have on us financially, but come January it will leave us struggling. This is without doubt very typical of many families with children across Wales.

The Welsh Government has launched the Childcare Offer for Wales. This is designed to help parents of 3 or 4 year old children by freeing up extra money. This is particularly useful in January after the big spend for Christmas in December.

The Childcare Offer for Wales

Most working parents of 3 or 4 year olds could be getting up to 30 hours of early education and childcare in Wales per week. This is also for up to 48 weeks of the year.

The Offer has many benefits for working parents, and has already helped many working parents all over Wales. It could be used to support a return to work, for working more flexible hours that are beneficial to family life, for starting a business or re-training in new skills.

This will also give working parents some extra money per month to spend on those family moments that are very important such as a day out.

What is in the Childcare Offer for Wales?

Most working parents of 3 to 4 year old children are able to claim funds towards the cost of childcare in Wales.

The 30 hours of early education and childcare is made up of a minimum of 10 hours of early education a week and a maximum of 20 hours a week of childcare (the exact amount of childcare you get depends on your local authority. Visit your Family Information Service – this will tell you what the Offer means where you live).

You can use it for 48 weeks of the year, so that means that some of the school holidays can be covered. Also you don’t have to use all the 30 hours of early education and childcare in one week but you cannot transfer them to another week.

The Offer now has hundreds of child minders, nurseries, playgroups and crèches involved. This will mean ultimately you will have a wide choice of childcare that will suit you and your child.

All early education and childcare costs are paid directly to who is supplying them and the funded hours will be deducted from your bill which you receive from them (parents do not receive any money or funds directly).

Applications for the Childcare Offer for Wales are open now. You can visit the Offer page right here to apply.

You can learn more by visiting the Childcare Offer for Wales page on Facebook.

This is a brilliant campaign to help working parents of 3 to 4 year olds have some extra money to spend on anything they wish, especially in the month of January when they are trying to get over the cost of Christmas. It could hopefully ease the pressure on family household or food bills.

If you live and work in Wales have you made a claim for early education and childcare from the Welsh Government? I would love to hear your experiences in the comments below.

Disclosure: This post has been commissioned by the Welsh Government and is a paid collaboration.