Childcare help for public sector workers

Most childcare help comes from government schemes that apply whoever you work for. In England that means funded hours for children from 9 months old and Tax-Free Childcare, which adds £2 for every £8 you pay in. On top of that, some public sector employers run workplace nurseries, and all of them have to follow the same family leave and flexible working rules. Being a nurse, teacher or council worker does not give you a separate childcare entitlement, but the shift patterns and term dates of these jobs change which help is most useful.

The government schemes everyone can use

Two schemes cover most working parents in England.

Funded hours come first. Working parents of children from 9 months old to school age can get 30 hours a week of funded childcare for 38 weeks of the year. Every 3 and 4-year-old gets 570 hours a year (15 hours a week) whatever the parents earn, and some 2-year-olds in families getting certain support get 15 hours a week. To qualify for the working parent hours, each parent must expect to earn at least 16 hours a week at the National Minimum Wage over the next three months (£2,643.68 a quarter at the age 21 and over rate), and neither parent can have adjusted net income over £100,000. The funded childcare hours guide goes through the details.

With Tax-Free Childcare, you open an online account, pay money in, and the government tops it up by £2 for every £8. The top-up is capped at £500 a quarter per child (£2,000 a year), or £1,000 a quarter (£4,000 a year) for a disabled child. Children must be 11 or under, or 16 or under if disabled. You pay the provider from the account. It can run alongside funded hours, so you can use it for the hours you pay for on top of the free ones. More on how it works is in Tax-Free Childcare.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own funded childcare schemes with different ages and hours. Tax-Free Childcare is UK-wide.

Scheme	Who gets it	What you get
Working parent funded hours (England)	Children from 9 months to school age, both parents working	30 hours a week, 38 weeks a year
Universal funded hours (England)	All 3 and 4-year-olds	570 hours a year
Tax-Free Childcare (UK)	Children 11 or under (16 if disabled)	£2 for every £8, up to £2,000 a year per child

Workplace nurseries

Some NHS trusts, universities, councils and government departments run a nursery on site or have a contract with a nearby one. Places are usually for staff first, and fees are often lower than private nurseries in the same area, though not always. Waiting lists can be long, especially for babies, so it is worth asking HR as soon as you know you will need a place.

A place at a nursery that the employer runs, or runs jointly with others, can be a tax-free benefit, which is why some trusts and councils offer them through salary sacrifice. The rules on what qualifies are set out in HMRC’s guidance on childcare as a benefit. Whether salary sacrifice for a nursery place makes sense depends on your pay, your pension and any means-tested support you get, so check the salary sacrifice guide before agreeing to one.

Many hospital nurseries open longer hours than ordinary nurseries to fit around shifts. Even so, few cover a 7am start at the far end of town or a night shift, so many shift workers still rely on family, childminders or a partner.

Childcare vouchers

Before Tax-Free Childcare, many public sector employers ran childcare voucher schemes through salary sacrifice. These closed to new joiners several years ago. If you were in one before it closed and have stayed with the same employer, you might still be using it. You cannot have vouchers and Tax-Free Childcare at the same time, and which works out better depends on your income and how many children you have. HMRC’s online childcare calculator compares the two.

Leave that helps with childcare

Statutory leave rights apply in every public sector job, and some employers pay or extend them.

• Unpaid parental leave: 18 weeks per child up to their 18th birthday, normally no more than 4 weeks a year per child, taken in whole weeks. It is a day-one right since 6 April 2026.
• Time off for dependants: reasonable unpaid time off for emergencies, such as when a nursery closes without warning or your child is ill. This is a day-one right.
• Carer’s leave: 1 week of unpaid leave per 12 months, if a dependant has a long-term care need.
• Shared parental leave: up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay shared between parents in the first year.

Many NHS trusts and councils pay for some days of dependants’ leave under their own special leave policies, so read yours before assuming the time is unpaid. Schools usually have a leave of absence policy covering the same ground.

Flexible working and term-time contracts

Flexible working is a day-one right. You can make two requests in any 12 months, and your employer must decide within two months and can refuse only for one of eight business reasons. In the NHS that might be fixed shifts, compressed hours or a self-rostering arrangement. Councils and the Civil Service often have flexi-time schemes that let you start and finish around drop-offs. Flexible working requests covers how to apply and what happens if you are turned down.

Term-time-only contracts are common in schools and in some council and NHS roles. They solve the holiday childcare problem but reduce your pay, because you are paid for the weeks you work plus a share of holiday, spread over 12 months. The guide to working term-time only explains the maths.

Child Benefit and the £60,000 charge

Child Benefit is £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 for each additional child. If either parent has adjusted net income over £60,000, the High Income Child Benefit Charge claws it back at 1 per cent for every £200 above that, so it is all repaid at £80,000. Higher bands of Agenda for Change, senior teachers and Civil Service Grade 7 and above can cross this line.

Pension contributions under a net pay arrangement, such as the NHS, teachers’, local government and Civil Service schemes, reduce adjusted net income. So can salary sacrifice. If you are close to the threshold, the High Income Child Benefit Charge guide explains how it is worked out. For anything about your own tax position, HMRC or a qualified tax adviser can help.

Where to start

Use the government’s Childcare Choices calculator on gov.uk to see which schemes you are eligible for, then ask HR or your staff intranet about workplace nurseries, special leave and flexi-time. Apply for funded hours in good time: you need a code from the childcare service before the term starts, and you must reconfirm your eligibility regularly to keep it.