MARTIN Lewis has warned that millions of parents are set to miss out on a £522 childcare boost from today.
It comes as those on Universal Credit who receive the childcare element will start to receive a bumper payment boost.
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Martin Lewis has warned that millions of parents are missing out onCredit: Goff
In a Good Morning Britain interview with Claire Coutinho, minister for children, families and wellbeing, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com said: “This is a good move for people on Universal Credit.
“But there are still very substantial numbers of people who are still on legacy benefits and on the old tax credit system.
“The limits there, if we contrast it for one child, on Universal Credit you can claim up to £951 a month but if you’re on the old legacy benefits system you can only claim up to £530 a month.”
Martin asked the minister why the government hasn’t equalised the support for those on tax credit.
She said: “At the moment what we’re doing is moving people onto Universal Credit.
“I would say if someone is looking at these different schemes, they should go and talk to their job coach, go and talk to their DWP Jobcentre to see what’s the right decision for them.”
From today, parents will get a payment boost and some will be able to request upfront childcare costs for some of those on Universal Credit will be paid upfront.
It’s a huge win for The Sun’s Make Universal Credit Work campaign, but thousands are still likely to miss out on upfront payments if they don’t take action.
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The amount that parents can claim has gone up from £646 to £951 a month for one child.
Families with two kids will see their payments leap from £1,108 to £1,630 too.
The amounts remain capped at 85 per cent of childcare costs.
Most families won’t see their childcare payments increase right away because of the way these are calculated over different “assessment periods”, depending on when they first claimed UC.
For some, the increase won’t come until August.
Parents who are already working and claiming childcare costs won’t get their payments upfront unless they change jobs or there is a “significant change” to their hours.
But those starting new jobs or increasing hours should be able to claim upfront costs.
The Department for Work and Pensions said parents need to up their hours by “at least a few hours more every week” to qualify for upfront childcare payments.
Parents increasing hours or starting new jobs must speak to their work to request that costs are paid upfront, the DWP said.
But those who don’t claim Universal Credit and get support for childcare costs through tax credits won’t see their payments change.
There are two types of tax credits – working tax and child tax credit.
They’re given to people who are on low incomes, are registered as disabled or have children that are dependent on them.
The rates vary depend …
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