Official Statistics

Universal Credit childcare element statistics, November 2021 to November 2023

Updated 23 October 2024

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

The latest release of these statistics can be found in the collection of Universal Credit statistics.

This release includes statistics on:

• the number of households receiving Universal Credit (UC) childcare element

• the number receiving maximum childcare amounts

• the average amounts received

Where appropriate, these figures are broken down by family type, region, and age of youngest child, and compared to the number of UC households with children in which all parents have earnings.

Main stories

The main stories are:

• in November 2023, 163,000 households received the UC childcare element

• the average amount of childcare element received was £390 in November 2023. This was higher in London (£600)

• in November 2023, 3% of UC childcare households received the maximum amount of childcare element available. This proportion has fallen from 10% since November 2022, reflecting the recent increase in maximum childcare amounts

• in November 2023, over a quarter (28%) of households on Universal Credit with pre-school children and in which all claimants had earnings, received the childcare element. For households on UC whose youngest child was primary school age, the proportion was lower (10%), and for households whose youngest child was secondary school age, it was lower still (less than 1%). Overall, 14% of households with children and in which all claimants had earnings received the childcare element in November 2023

What you need to know

Universal Credit (UC) reimburses up to 85% of eligible childcare costs, up to a maximum amount. The maximum amount increased in June 2023, from:

• £646.35 to £950.92 for one child
• £1,108.04 to £1,630.15 for two or more children

To qualify for the UC childcare element, the claimant (or, where a couple is claiming, both claimants), must usually be in paid work or have accepted an offer of paid work and pay for childcare for the relevant child or young person.

UC households can also make use of other types of childcare, which do not require the UC childcare element. These include the wider government offer of free childcare for 2 to 4 year olds.

Further information on the childcare offer for UC claimants can be found in the Universal Credit: childcare guide.

Households receiving the UC childcare element

Figure 1: Households receiving the UC childcare element, November 2021 to November 2023

In November 2023, 163,000 households received the UC childcare element. This has increased by 19,000 (13%) since November 2022, reflecting the overall increase in the number of households on UC.

In June, July and August 2023 and again in November 2023, the number of households receiving the UC childcare element fell slightly. This is in line with similar falls in previous years and is likely to be because households use childcare less during holiday periods.

Figure 2: Households receiving childcare element, by age of youngest child, November 2023

More than half of households receiving childcare element have a youngest child aged between 1 and 3 years, with the number of households decreasing as the age of youngest child increases.

Average amount of UC childcare element

Figure 3: Mean amount of UC childcare element, November 2021 to November 2023

In November 2023, the average (mean) amount of childcare element was £390. This has increased from £350 in November 2022, which is likely to be due to the rise in the maximum amounts in June 2023.

Figure 4: Distribution of UC childcare element amounts, November 2023

In November 2023, over half of households receiving the childcare element received £300 or less.

Figure 5: Mean UC childcare element amount by age of youngest child, November 2023

The average amount of childcare element varied with the age of the youngest child in the household. In November 2023, the average amount was highest for households with older children, especially aged from 12 to 14. Amounts were also high for very young children, especially aged from 1 to 2.

The amount of childcare element may depend on the number of children in the household.

Figure 6: Mean UC childcare element amount by region, November 2023

The average amount of childcare element was higher for households in London (£600). This amount has increased by 20% since November 2022 in London, compared to an increase of 13% in Great Britain as a whole (see table 6, supplementary data).

Households receiving maximum UC childcare element amounts

Figure 7: Households receiving the maximum amount of UC childcare element as a proportion of households receiving the childcare element, by month, November 2021 to November 2023

In November 2023, 3% of households receiving the childcare element received the maximum amount. This has fallen from 10% in November 2022, which is likely to reflect the rise of maximum childcare element amounts during this period. The maximum amount increased in June 2023, from £646.35 to £950.92 for one child and from £1,108.04 to £1,630.15 for two or more children.

In London, 9% of households receiving the childcare element received the maximum amounts in November 2023. This has fallen from 25% in November 2022 (see table 12, supplementary data).

Usage of the UC childcare element

We can compare the number of households receiving the childcare element to an estimate of the number who might be able to claim it. This estimate is the number of Universal Credit households with children aged 16 or younger in which all claimants are earning.

Figure 8: Households receiving the UC childcare element as a proportion of households where everyone is earning with a child aged up to and including 16, November 2021 to November 2023

In November 2023, 14% of households with children and in which all claimants were earning received the childcare element. This proportion has remained broadly consistent since November 2022, with small dips during holiday periods, reflecting the drop in households receiving childcare element during these periods, as discussed above.

This figure was similar for single households and couples (14% and 15% respectively) and is broadly similar across all regions of the UK (see table 11, supplementary data).

This percentage does not represent the proportion of UC households that use childcare, since it is likely that some households make use of other forms of childcare that do not require the UC childcare element. These include the wider government offer of free childcare for 3 to 4 year olds and friends and family helping with childcare.

Figure 9: Households receiving the UC childcare element as a proportion of households where everyone is earning with a child aged up to and including 16, banded by age of youngest child, November 2023

In UC households with children of pre-school age (aged 4 or younger), over a quarter (28%) of households with everyone earning received childcare element. For households whose youngest child was of primary school age (5 to 11), the proportion was lower (10%). For households whose youngest child was of secondary school age (12 to 16), the proportion was lower still (less than 1%).

Figure 10: Households receiving the UC childcare element as a proportion of households where everyone is earning with a child aged up to and including 16, by age of youngest child, November 2023

The proportion receiving the childcare element was highest for households whose youngest child was two years old. For households with older children, the proportion was progressively lower as the age of the youngest child increased.

About these statistics

These statistics have been classed as official statistics in development.

All figures in this publication are derived from Universal Credit administrative data.

Figures are provisional and may be subject to minor change. This is partly because a household may claim childcare for previous months. This means that a household could still claim childcare for any of the months listed in this publication, so that the number of recipients for any given month may increase slightly when revised in subsequent releases.

All figures are for Great Britain only and include only households where Universal Credit was in payment. Figures are rounded according to the following convention:

Range	Rounded to the nearest
0 to 1,000	10
1,001 to 10,000	100
10,001 to 100,000	1,000
100,001 to 1,000,000	10,000

In the case of broad ranges, a single convention is used. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 1%.

Although it is possible to receive the childcare element for children older than 16, these are generally special cases and have been discounted in this publication.

For each month, the number of households receiving the Universal Credit childcare element is defined as the number of claimants who received some amount of childcare element for an assessment period that started in that month.

Note

This publication differs from the methodology used in the previous ad-hoc publication on childcare element. The figures given in this publication should be used instead.

This means that the numbers in this publication differ slightly from figures that were previously on the statistical tool Stat-Xplore. We are looking at how these methodologies can be better aligned.

The selected definition currently differs from the one used in the main Universal Credit statistics, which looks at households whose assessment period spans a particular date in each month.

When information is given for regions of Great Britain, this is derived from the claimants’ residential address. Not all claimants have a valid address listed, which means that a small number of households have “Unknown” region information.

For the full data, see the supplementary data tables published alongside this release.

Further information and feedback

Lead Statistician: Graham Walmsley  

Analyst: Thane Than

Email: [email protected]