Help with childcare costs under Universal Credit
[ch 5: page 56]Universal Credit (UC) (see Chapter 1) generally contains more generous provision for support for childcare costs than under the previous system. However, the allowance is paid a month in arrears which means working parents have to find deposits and payments for childcare upfront, as well as having to provide receipts at job centres to claim the money back.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Amber Rudd recently acknowledged the need for more flexibility, and instructed job centres to use the Flexible Support Fund (FSF), which helps with the costs of moving into work, to help claimants to access childcare. She also said they should be more flexible in terms of the timescale for receiving proof of the costs. However, the TUC says this will not address the fundamental flaw of families having to cover massive upfront childcare costs every month before claiming them back.