Universal Credit childcare element | How to claim for all your children

This article explains changes to Universal Credit child element eligibility and the Government’s scrapping of the ‘two-child benefit cap’ to allow more families to claim the childcare element for all their children.

What is Universal Credit? 

• Universal Credit is a payment to help with your living costs.
• Families on Universal Credit can receive funding for childcare costs upfront, instead of having to claim it back.
• Universal Credit replaces working tax credit and child tax credit. 

How much is the Universal Credit child element? 

In 2025/26, working parents on Universal Credit can claim childcare support up to:

• £1,031.88 per month for one child
• £1,768.94  per month for two or more children

Parents can currently only claim the childcare element of Universal Credit for their first two children.

How much you get	Extra monthly amount
For your first child	£339 a month (born before 6 April 2017) £292.81 (born on or after 6 April 2017)
For your second child (and any other eligible children)	£292.81 a month per child

You can claim back up to 85% of your childcare costs if you’re working.

If you live with your partner, both of you need to be working to claim, unless one of you is unable to work due to a disability or health condition.

You’ll also get an extra amount if any of your children are disabled. You’ll get:

• £158.76 if your child is disabled
• £495.87 if your child is severely disabled

Budget reform: Parents can soon claim Universal Credit Child Element for more than 2 children.

On 26 November 2025, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced in the Budget she would scrap the two-child benefit cap.

Chancellor Reeves said the two-child cap had forced “hundreds of thousands of children into poverty since it was introduced”.

What is the ‘two-child benefit cap’ and when will it be lifted?

• The two-child benefit cap (first introduced in April 2017 by the Conservative government) meant parents of any children born after April 2017 who were the third-born child or later in the family, were not entitled to any more Universal Credit Child Element payments.
• The two-child benefit cap will be scrapped from April 2026.

The two-child benefit cap has nothing to do with child benefit

The budget reform refering to a ‘two child benefit cap’ is about changes to Universal Credit, not child benefit.

Who is eligible for Universal Credit childcare costs?  

To claim the childcare cost element of Universal Credit, you must be in paid work or have an offer to start working (before your next Universal Credit assessment period).

Working families with children under 17 can claim Universal Credit in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

To be eligible:

• You must live in the UK, be low on income or out of work, be aged 18 or over, under state pension age and have less than £16,000 in savings and investments between you and your partner. 
• If you live with a partner, you both need to be in paid work, unless your partner cannot look after your children.
• If you’re on sick leave, you may also be eligible if you’re getting Statutory Sick Pay.
• If you’re on maternity, paternity or adoption leave, you may also be eligible if you’re getting Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Paternity Pay or Statutory Shared Parental Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay or Maternity Allowance.
• Your childcare must be with ‘registered’ childcare providers. Usually that means they registered with OFSTED, the Care Inspectorate in Scotland or the Care Inspectorate Wales.
• You can get help paying for childcare including nurseries, childminders, nannies, breakfast clubs, after school care and holiday clubs.

You can claim childcare costs for all the children you’re responsible for, until 31 August after their 16th birthday.

What are ‘reasonable childcare costs’?

Universal Credit will cover ‘reasonable’ childcare costs that help you work or get into work.

Reasonable childcare costs could include:

• a ‘settling-in period’ for your child before you start work, to help your child get used to being in childcare.
• childcare while you travel to work.
• childcare in the month after you lose a job.

Childcare for changing work patterns or zero-hours contracts can also be considered ‘reasonable’.

For example, you pay childcare costs so that you can work your usual hours but you actually get less work hours than you expected, that’s considered ‘reasonable’.

You normally need to pay for the childcare first. If you cannot pay that upfront cost, you might be able to get help with that.

Free school meals

• Any child in England whose parents receive Universal credit will be able to claim free school meals from September 2026. Prior to September 2026, a household must earn less than £7,400 a year to qualify for free school meals in England.
• All primary school children in London and Wales currently access free meals.
• In Scotland, all children in the first five years of primary school are eligible and children getting the Scottish Child Payment benefit.
• Parents in Northern Ireland can get free school meals, if they get certain benefits and are below an income threshold of £15,000.

Help with upfront costs of childcare

You may be able to get help from the Flexible Support Fund if you have to pay upfront childcare costs and one of the following applies:

• you’re starting work.
• you’re increasing the hours you work, for example you’ve moved from part-time work to full-time work.

Use your online account or contact your work coach to ask about help from the Flexible Support Fund.

How do you apply for Universal Credit? 

You can apply for Universal Credit online. 

To apply online you’ll need:

• your bank, building society or credit union account details
• an email address
• access to a phone

You must include details of how much you pay for childcare.

Universal Credit is paid once a month. This is usually paid into your bank or building society. It is paid twice a month for some people in Scotland.  

Work out if you’re better off on Universal Credit before you apply for it.

• If you already get benefits or tax credits, find out if you’ll be better off before you or your partner claim Universal Credit.
• If you apply for Universal Credit those benefits might end and you will not be able to apply for them again.
• You can receive free support from trained advisers at Citizens Advice, if you need help with making a Universal Credit application.