Working families saving thousands as government reforms halve childcare costs

• New report finds government-funded childcare rollout cuts costs in half with over half a million families accessing 30 hours a week – saving up to £8,000 a year
• 9,000 new early years special educational needs co-ordinators to make settings inclusive for all and give every child best start in life
• Latest in sustained cost of living push with families saving £450 thanks to free breakfast clubs and hundreds of new Best Start Family Hubs to open doors next month

New research has found government-funded childcare has cut costs on childcare for families in half, with working parents now saving an average of £8,000 a year.

According to Coram Family and Childcare's annual Childcare Survey, costs of a part-time childcare place have now dropped back to the same level as 2005 - reversing more than two decades of rising costs in just two years and giving more children the very best start in life.

The report is clear-cut evidence that the government's childcare reforms are putting money back in the pockets of working families, after the successful roll out of 30 hours government-funded childcare to over half a million families last September.

The Coram report finds that the cost of a full-time (50-hour) place for a child under two has fallen by 52% compared to 2024 – from around £305 per week to £149.

This is one of many ways the government is supporting families with the cost of living, now saving parents an average of £8,000 a year for every child according to the latest analysis, and enabling nearly a third (29%) of parents to up their work hours.

The report finds that a part time place for a child under two is now theoretically free, coming on top of further cost savings including £450 thanks to free breakfast clubs and £500 come September when over half a million more children begin to access free school meals.

In addition to this cost of living support, the government is today confirming 9,000 early years special educational needs co-ordinators will start training next month, to make sure nurseries and childminders have the staff they need to deliver support for children with SEND and increase earlier intervention. 

This will help children in the most deprived communities and those with SEND, too many of whom are starting school without the foundations they need. It is the communities where childcare is hardest to find and least affordable where the cost-of-living pressure on families is most acute.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:

"Childcare costs have weighed on working families for too long - pushing parents out of work and stretching household budgets to breaking point.

“Today's figures show we've halved those costs in two years, and families are now thousands of pounds better off.

“As we continue to roll out free breakfast clubs, free school meals and Best Start Family Hubs, we are giving working families the real, practical cost of living support they need to get on."

Early Years SENCOs ensure all early years educators understand the needs of children with SEND and the setting has an established approach to identifying and meeting those needs.

This comes in the wake of the government's £200 million SEND training programme, which will make sure all early years' educators have the training, evidence-backed identification and intervention tools and expert help they need to support children with additional needs.

It also builds on the ongoing roll out of school-based nurseries, already creating thousands of new places with local areas soon to be invited to set out plans for new nurseries where need is the highest.

As part of wider work to make sure that as costs come down, quality and support for every child continues to improve, and the government has also announced an extension of its Maths Champions programme to up to 5,000 more nurseries, reaching around 160,000 more children.

Delivered by the National Day Nurseries Association, the programme trains up staff to support children's early mathematical development, building on the government's commitment to drive up standards in numeracy from the earliest years.

Today's announcement is the latest in a sustained programme of support for families with the cost of living and to unblock the barriers that hold children back.

Free breakfast clubs are set to reach 300,000 children from April, the extension of free school meals will mean 500,000 children on universal credit will be eligible this September, and Best Start Family Hubs will bring health, parenting and specialist SEND services to every community for free from next month.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Childcare Survey 2026

The Childcare Survey 2026 is published by Coram Family and Childcare and marks the 25th annual edition of the survey. It is available here. Key findings include:

• For eligible for the working parent entitlement, part-time (25 hour) childcare in England is now theoretically free (barring costs for additional extras, which must be voluntary) during term time, and the cost of full-time childcare has reduced by 39% since last year due to funded hours increasing from 15 to 30 per week.
• Over the full roll-out (from January 2024 to September 2025) which covers both last year and this year's surveys, costs have halved for full-time childcare (50 hours):

• The cost of part-time care has fallen to what it was back in 2005, and the cost of full-time care to 2018 levels for eligible families.
• This follows more than two decades of rising childcare costs since the survey began in 2001, when prices increased year-on-year and often faster than inflation.
• Outside of England, where there are no funded entitlements for children under two, costs have continued to rise. A part-time place for a child under two increased by 5% in Scotland and 8% in Wales.
• Across Great Britain, the cost of full-time nursery places for three- and four-year-olds has also increased in the past year: 9% in England, 6% in Scotland and 6% in Wales.

Additional information on announcement

• Deltapoll survey on parents increasing work hours here: Government-funded childcare | Deltapoll
• The Maths Champions programme expansion will support up to 5,000 additional nurseries, improving outcomes for approximately 160,000 children. More information can be found here.
• The new SENCO training contract will support 9,000 additional early years Special Educational Needs Coordinators. The contract provider cannot be named at this stage. More information can be found here.

Additional cost saving interventions

• From this September, over 500,000 children started accessing 30 hours government-funded childcare a week.

• Access to full 30 hours funded childcare a week, for 38 weeks a year, can save parents an average of £8,000 a year, per child. This is based on the latest average fees of:
• • £7.18 for under 2s
  • £7.09 for 2yos
  • £6.78 for 3 & 4 yos.
• Any child attending school from a household that claims Universal Credit will be eligible to receive free school meals from September 2026. This will also apply for children attending school based nurseries.
• The expansion will reach a further 500,000 children and pull 100,000 out of poverty by the end of this parliament.
• We have already rolled out free breakfast clubs in 750 schools, reaching nearly 180,000 pupils. Of these children, around 80,000 attend schools in deprived areas.
• We're investing an additional £80 million this year to fund around 2,000 more schools, benefiting almost 500,000 children. This includes over 200,000 disadvantaged children.
• In the Best Start in Life Strategy, we committed rolling out ‘Best Start Family Hubs' across every local authority from April 2026.
• The rollout will be backed by over £500 million, as well as a £12 million grant to support the development of Best Start Hubs in the 65 LAs that currently do not have any provision.
• Removing the two child limit will increase the amount of Universal Credit child element that families with three or more children are entitled to (an extra £292.81 per additional child per month.
• Over 1.5m children in Great Britain will benefit from the removal of the two-child limit. 450,000 children will be lifted out of poverty.