Expansion to early childcare entitlements: Childcare Experiences Survey
Initial outputs from DfE's Childcare Experiences Survey (aka “Your Childcare”), understanding working parents' experiences of the expanded childcare entitlement
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Background information
This publication provides information from the Department for Education’s Childcare Experiences Survey. The Childcare Experiences Survey consists of 6 waves of data collection from parents using the expanded entitlement to government funded childcare, introduced from April 2024.
This publication contains detail from the third wave of the Childcare Experience Survey, taking place between June to August 2025.
The summary results provided here detail the experiences of parents who had recently applied for the Government’s expanded entitlement to funded childcare for working parents through the Childcare Choices (now Best Start in Life (opens in new tab)) website. Data comes from parents who had applied for a new eligibility code for the expanded entitlement between 1st December 2024 – 31st March 2025, for their child to start childcare from April 2025.
Headline facts and figures
First choice provider
91%
of respondents were able to get a childcare place at their first choice of provider.
What does this mean?
Proportion of respondents currently using a nursery or pre-school, nursery class attached to primary or infants' school or a childminder who reported being able to get a childcare place at their first choice of provider.
Ease of application
78%
of respondents found the application process easy to follow.
What application?
Proportion of respondents who strongly agreed/agreed to the following statement: “The application process for the working families childcare entitlement was easy to follow”.
Childcare affordability
45%
of respondents agreed that the amount they pay for childcare per month is affordable for their family.
How did we measure this?
This is the proportion of formal childcare users who indicated either 'Agree' or 'Strongly agree' in response to the following statement: "The amount I pay for childcare per month is affordable for my family".
Increased working hours
13%
of respondents increased working hours since they started claiming the working families childcare entitlement.
Who does this relate to?
Proportion of respondents currently working full-time, part-time or self-employed who reported an increase in their working hours since they started claiming the working families childcare entitlements. This figure does not show the causal impact of the entitlement on hours worked.
Decreased working hours
19%
of respondents decreased working hours since they started claiming the working families childcare entitlement.
What does a decrease mean?
Proportion of respondents currently working full-time, part-time or self-employed who reported an decrease in their working hours since they started claiming the working families childcare entitlements. This figure does not show the causal impact of the entitlement on hours worked.
Influence of expanded entitlement on work
71%
of those who changed their working hours viewed entitlement expansion as influential in making this decision.
What is this?
Proportion of respondents currently working full-time, part-time or self-employed who viewed the expansion to early childcare entitlements as influential in their change in working hours since they started claiming the working families childcare entitlements.
Respondents intend to work more
61%
of those changing their childcare hours from September 2025 intend to do so to work more hours.
What are future plans?
The primary reason for respondents who plan to increase or decrease the number of hours their child spends in childcare when the offer is available up to 30 hours from September 2025.
Accessing formal (paid for) early years provision
- 91% of respondents who reported using formal childcare arrangements (e.g., nursery/pre-school, nursery class attached to primary school and/or a childminder) were able to get a childcare place at their first choice of provider.
- 26% were placed on a waiting list before they could access their working families childcare entitlement or are currently on a waiting list (if respondents are not currently claiming the entitlement).
Experiences of applying for 15 hours childcare for eligible working families in England, via Childcare Choices
- Majority of respondents strongly agreed/agreed (78%) that the application process for the working families’ childcare entitlement was easy to follow.
- Between 11% and 12% of respondents with lower household incomes (below £40,000) disagreed that they found the application process for the working families’ childcare entitlement easy to follow.
Perception of affordability of formal childcare
- 45% of parents who use formal childcare arrangements agreed with the statement "The amount I pay for childcare per month is affordable for my family".
Change in working hours since parents started claiming entitlements
- Since parents started claiming entitlements, 13% of respondents increased their working hours, whilst 19% reported decreased working hours, and 66% reported no change.
- 21% of respondents with household incomes of £20,000 or less reported an increase in working hours—the highest of any income group.
- Changes in working hours can occur for a variety of reasons. These figures do not show the causal impact of the entitlement on hours worked.
Influence of the working families' childcare entitlements in changing respondents' working hours
- 71% of all respondents who reported a change in their working hours since they started claiming childcare entitlements, perceived the introduction of working families’ childcare entitlements as somewhat/very influential in this change.
- 85% of respondents who had increased their working hours viewed the new childcare entitlement as influential in this change.
- 64% of respondents who had decreased their working hours viewed the new childcare entitlement as influential in this change.
- The perceived influence of the entitlement on the change in working hours was particularly observed among respondents from with household incomes below £59,999. For instance, 79% of respondents whose household income was between £40,000 and £59,999 indicated that the entitlement was very or somewhat influential in making a change to their working hours, the highest among any group.
Reasons parents wish to change their childcare hours in September 2025
- When the offer of 30 hours funded childcare is available from September 2025, 45% of respondents intend to increase their number of childcare hours, and 45% do not plan to change their number of childcare hours.
- 61% of respondents who reported an intention to change the number of hours their child spends in childcare in the future said they will do so to work more hours. Amongst respondents with household earnings less than £20,000, this proportion rises to 67%.
Comparison with previous releases
- For comparison of results from this survey with its previous editions, please refer to Section 7.
Section 1: Background and household characteristics
Background
The amount of financial support available to parents, in the form of government-funded childcare, has been extended. The new measures expand the existing system by offering up to 30 funded hours of childcare per week over 38 weeks of the year to children aged 9 months up to 2 years whose parents meet the same income eligibility criteria as applied to the existing 30 hours entitlement for 3- and 4-year-olds.
At the time of the survey (June to August 2025) only the first phases of this expansion - 15 hours of funded childcare per week for eligible parents of 9 month to 2-year-old children - had been rolled out. The new entitlements started being offered in full as of September 2025.
This survey asked about:
- parents' experiences with applying to access the 15 hours funded childcare hours entitlement for working families,
- using childcare providers in their area for their child who is receiving funded childcare,
- and how parents' childcare and employment arrangements work for them and their family.
Introduction
This section provides an overview of the current sample characteristics.
Issued sample
The current cohort consists of a stratified random sample of 40,000 parents who were selected from a base population of 308,000, of customers who:
- had a live Child Benefit claim (ChB);
- had applied for a new eligibility code for the expanded childcare entitlements between 1st December 2024 –31st March 2025 (child to start childcare from April 2025) ;
- had a child claimed for born between (and including) 31st March 2022 and 30th June 2024 (i.e. aged 9 months to 2 years at the time of sampling).
The sample was stratified proportionally, by regions in England, to guarantee geographic representation whilst ensuring any labour market effects in the regions most affected by unemployment were identified. To be designed with a higher representation of parents in lower-income areas in mind, a sample boost was applied in regions with high economic inactivity (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab), particularly in the northern regions which may be experiencing a shortage of childcare.
Achieved sample
A total of 6,590 respondents (90% female) in England completed the survey between 23rd June and 19th August 2025—a response rate of 17%.
Eligibility
The working families' entitlement offer is 15 hours funded childcare for eligible working families from September 2024. This offer is available for children from the term after they turn 9 months old until the term that they turn 3 years old. 6,906 respondents began the survey. 6,813 respondents had received a childcare code for at least one of their children aged 9 months to 2 years to receive 15 hours funded childcare hours under the working families' entitlement. 40 respondents who did not fit these criteria were screened out of the survey or exited the survey before completing the first question. Respondents who provided invalid postcode data were excluded from analysis.
Household Characteristics
Respondents were asked questions about themselves and their household—including basic information about themselves and those they live with, including children. Results may not equal 100 percent due to rounding. All figures given are weighted proportions, except for the most common ages of children in households.
- 88% of respondents reported that there are 2 people over the age of 18 living at their current address.
- 98% were living with a partner.
- Families had between 1-10 children (aged 17 years and under) living in their household. 44% reported having 2 children (standard deviation = 0.8) at their current address.
- Most of the children in the surveyed sample of households were aged 1 year (30%) and 2 years (24%).
Children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND)
- 7% of all respondents had a child with SEND at home.
- When asked to what extent caring for a child with SEND impacted their ability to work, 28% responded “a little”, 27% “a moderate amount”, and 20% “a great deal”.
Parents with a disability
- There was a small proportion of respondents with a disability amongst surveyed households (3%).
- The majority of these respondents said their disability does not impact their ability to work (57%) compared to those reporting it does (28%).
Parents with caring responsibilities for other people in their household over the age of 18
- There was a small proportion of respondents with caring responsibilities amongst surveyed households (2%).
- The majority of these respondents said their caring responsibilities do not impact their ability to work (61%), compared to those reporting it does (29%).
Employment status
- At the time of the survey, 41% of respondents were working full-time as an employee, 47% part-time as an employee, and 7% were self-employed or freelance.
- At the time of the survey, 76% of respondents' partners were working full-time as an employee, 8% part-time as an employee, and 15% were self-employed or freelance.
Parents' household annual income (before tax)
- Lowest household income: 5% of parents had a household income of less than £20,000.
- Lower household income: 11% of parents had a household income between £20,000-£39,999.
- Middle household income: 23% of parents had a household income between £40,000-£59,999.
- Middle household income: 25% of parents had a household income between £60,000-£79,999.
- Higher household income: 23% of parents had a household income between £80,000-£99,999.
- Highest household income: 13% of parents had a household income of more than £100,000.
Further information
More detailed information, including sample sizes, can be found in additional tables available in the “supporting files” section and the Methodology section of this release.
Find out more: information on eligibility criteria (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab).
Section 2: Experiences of applying for the working parents entitlement via Childcare Choices
Introduction
This section reports respondents' perceptions of the ease of the working families childcare entitlement application process; the proportion of respondents who received a childcare eligibility code and went on to claim the childcare offer; and the main reasons for not claiming the childcare offered.
Findings
Ease of the working families childcare entitlement application process
The majority of respondents (78%) strongly agree/agree with the following statement: “The application process for the working families childcare entitlement was easy to follow”.
Disability status: 16% of respondents with a disability disagreed or strongly disagreed that the process was easy compared to 13% of respondents with no disabilities.
SEND: Respondents who have a child with SEND in their household report similar levels of agreement with the statement that the entitlement application process was easy to follow (79%), compared to those without a child with SEND (78%).
Age of child claimed for: Across all age groups, the majority of respondents either agree or strongly agree that the application process was easy to follow. The proportion of respondents who disagree or strongly disagree is slightly lower for 2 and 3 year olds (10-14%), compared to 9-11 months (26%).
Accessing the 15 hours working families entitlements
In general, a majority of respondents (96%) who received a childcare eligibility code went on to claim their 15 hours funded childcare offered.
Household income: A higher proportion of respondents with higher household incomes annually (between £60,000 - £100,000 or more) report accessing the 15 hours funded working families childcare entitlement (96-97%), compared with respondents earning a household income less than £20,000 (93%).
SEND: Across both groups (has SEND children, no SEND children), the majority of respondents (94-96%) were accessing the 15 hours funded working families childcare entitlements.
By region: Across all regions, there was high uptake of the 15 hours funded working families childcare entitlements. Respondents in the North West and West Midlands (97%) reported the highest uptake compared to respondents in the South West (94%).
Reasons for not using the working families childcare entitlement
At the time of the survey, 5% were not accessing the 15 hours funded working families childcare entitlement; of whom 30% had a child starting childcare next term, 16% were waiting for a place for their child to become available, 10% used childcare that was not eligible for the entitlement, 10% chose alternative provision not eligible for the funded hours, and 8% were not able to afford additional costs.
Section 3: Barriers to finding and using early years provision
Introduction
This section reports proportions of respondents who were on a waiting list before accessing the entitlement or were not on a waiting list at the time of the survey; the different challenges experienced by respondents when finding a childcare place; and, the number of respondents facing restrictions from their childcare provider about when they can use their funded childcare hours.
Findings
Accessing formal (paid for) early years provision
91% who reported using formal childcare arrangements (e.g., nursery/pre-school, nursery class attached to primary school and or a childminder) were able to get a childcare place at their first choice of provider.
Whether accessing entitlements: For respondents who had gone on to claim their 15 hours childcare entitlement, 26% reported being placed on a waiting list by their childcare provider before they could access their working families childcare entitlement. Meanwhile, of respondents who were not claiming their 15 hours funded childcare at the time of the survey, 40% said their child was currently on a waiting list from their provider.
Challenges experienced when finding suitable childcare
35% of all respondents encountered no challenges when finding a childcare place. Whereas, 34% experienced challenges finding childcare affordable to them, 25% found it challenging to find suitable childcare for their preferences, and 23% had difficulties securing a place at their preferred provider.
SEND: Respondents with and without a child with SEND in their household reported similar overall experiences finding a childcare place. However, a higher proportion of respondents who had a child with SEND in their household, compared to those without, reported challenges finding suitable childcare that met their preferences (29% vs 25%) and securing a place at their preferred provider (27% vs 23%). On the other hand, a lower proportion of respondents who had a child with SEND reported challenges understanding guidance for childcare offers (19%) compared to respondents with no children with SEND (23%).
Provider restrictions
A majority of respondents reported not facing any restrictions from their main childcare provider about when they can use their funded childcare hours (69%).
When respondents could use their funded childcare hours: 20% of respondents reported facing restrictions from their main childcare provider about when they can use their funded childcare hours. Of these, 36% could only use a certain number of hours per day.
Section 4: Using childcare
Introduction
This section reports the proportions of respondents using formal (paid for) and informal (unpaid) types of early years provision for the child receiving entitlement funded childcare; factors influencing parents' decision to use formal childcare; and the average number of hours children receiving the funded entitlement spend in childcare per week.
Findings
Types of childcare arrangements respondents are using
Respondents were asked to select all the childcare arrangements they typically use for their child receiving the funded childcare entitlement. Nursery or pre-schools were the most common type of childcare reported (84%), followed by the child's grandparents (31%) and a childminder (13%).
Factors influencing parent’s decision to use formal childcare
Among respondents who reported using at least one type of paid for childcare arrangement (formal type, e.g. nurseries, pre-school, childminders, nanny or au pair), 92% indicated that “it [enabled them] to work”. Other common reasons included formal childcare being important for their child's social development (82%), emotional development (69%), and physical development (61%).
Hours spent in formal (paid for) early years provision
Respondents who selected either nursery or pre-school, nursery class attached to primary or infants' school, childminder and or a nanny or au pair, were asked to report the number of hours in total per week their child receiving funded childcare entitlement spends in formal childcare (including both government funded and hours parents may pay for).
The median number of hours all respondents reported their child spending in formal childcare per week was 23 hours (standard deviation = 10.3). The high standard deviation indicates substantial variability in the number of hours used.
Household income: Higher-income households reported the greatest number of formal childcare hours used per week. Specifically, for respondents with a household income of £100,000 or more, the median number of hours children spend per week in formal childcare was 30 hours, compared to 18 hours per week for respondents earning an income of less than £20,000.
By region: Households in London reported the greatest number of formal childcare hours used per week (median = 30 hours), compared with households in the North East, East Midlands, South West (median = 20 hours).
Type of childcare parents are claiming majority of their entitlement hours in
A higher proportion of respondents who had gone onto claim their 15 hours funded childcare at the time of the survey were claiming the majority of their entitlement hours in a nursery or pre-school environment (84%), compared to with a childminder (13%), or a nursery class attached to primary or infants' school (3%).
Respondents who claimed the majority of their entitlement on childminders reported their child spending more hours per week (median = 24 hours) in paid for early years provision, compared with a nursery or pre-school (median = 22 hours), and nursery class attached to primary or infants' school (median = 18 hours).
Section 5: Provider fees and charges
Introduction
This section focuses on respondents experiences of paying for childcare, specifically for their child who is receiving the funded childcare entitlement. Including the proportions of respondents who's childcare costs have changed since the introduction of the working families childcare entitlements from April 2024.
Findings
Change in childcare costs
Respondents were asked if their child who was receiving entitlement funded childcare started in formal (paid for) childcare before 1st April 2024. For those who said 'Yes', the majority reported their childcare costs had decreased (61%), whilst 21% reported an increase in their childcare costs, and 18% reported costs staying the same following the introduction of the working families childcare entitlements from April 2024.
Note that respondents may have changed the amount of childcare they use over this period, which would be reflected in their costs.
Entitlement funded providers: Across the three types of paid early years provision where parents can claim their entitlement hours, a higher proportion of respondents reported a reduction in childcare costs since April 2024 for childminders (67%), compared with a nursery classes attached to primary or infants' school (63%), and a nursery or pre-school (60%).
Change in childcare costs since April 2024 by household income
Reduction in childcare costs: A higher proportion of higher-income households reported a reduction in childcare costs since the introduction of the entitlement expansion. Specifically, 65% of respondents earning £100,000 or more reported a reduction. In contrast, 53% of the households with incomes of less than £20,000 reported a reduction.
My childcare costs have stayed the same: A higher proportion of lower income households (earning less than £20,000) reported their childcare costs have stayed the same (26%), compared to lower percentages in higher-income brackets (17% of households earning £80,000 or more).
Note that respondents may have changed the amount of childcare they use over this period, which would be reflected in their costs changing.
By region: Households in the East Midlands (27%) reported the highest increase in childcare costs since the expansion to early years childcare entitlements. More households in London (65%) and the West Midlands (64%) reported that their childcare costs have reduced since the expansion to early years childcare entitlements, compared to households that have reported an increase (21% in both cases).
Additional hours and charges
Data on the types of additional charges parents pay is available in the View or create your own tables tool.
Section 6: Changes in respondents' employment patterns and childcare usage following the entitlements expansion
Introduction
This section reports how respondents' working hours have changed since they started claiming the working families childcare entitlements, the extent to which respondents view the new entitlement offer as influential in their change in working hours, and the number of respondents who intend to change their number of childcare hours from September 2025, when the expansion of the entitlement to 30 hours was introduced. Changes in working hours can occur for a variety of reasons. These figures do not show the causal impact of the entitlement on hours worked.
Findings
Changes in working hours since parents started claiming entitlements
66% of parents who were working full-time, part-time or self-employed at the time of the survey, reported no change in their working hours since they started claiming working families' childcare entitlements. In contrast, 13% saw an increase and 19% saw a decrease in their working hours.
By household income
No change: A higher proportion of households earning £100,000 or more said their working hours stayed the same compared with those earning less than £20,000 (75% vs 57%)
Working hours have decreased: 20% of respondents with household incomes £60,000-79,999 reported a decrease in working hours - the highest of any income group.
Working hours have increased: 21% of respondents with household incomes less than £20,000 reported an increase in working hours - the highest of any income group.
By region: the East Midlands had the highest proportion of respondents whose working hours had decreased (24%). Whereas the East of England and the South West reported the highest increase in working hours (15% each). The South East reported the highest proportion of respondents saying their hours had stayed the same since they started claiming the working families' childcare entitlements (70%).
Influence of childcare entitlement on change in working hours
Out of the 32% who had changed their working hours since they started claiming childcare entitlements, 71% of respondents viewed the introduction of the working families' childcare entitlements as somewhat or very influential in changing their working hours.
Increase in working hours: Among respondents reporting an increase in their working hours since they started claiming childcare entitlements (13%), 85% of these respondents viewed the introduction of the working families' childcare entitlements as somewhat/very influential in changing their working hours.
Decrease in working hours: Among respondents reporting a decrease in their working hours since they started claiming childcare entitlements (19%), 64% of these respondents viewed the introduction of the working families' childcare entitlements as somewhat/very influential in changing their working hours.
Household income: Among the 32% who had changed their working hours since they started claiming childcare entitlements, a higher proportion of respondents in households earning £40,000-59,999 (79%), viewed the introduction of the working families' childcare entitlements as somewhat/very influential in changing their working hours.
Meanwhile, a higher proportion (45%) of respondents earning £100,000 or more reported the working families' childcare entitlements was not very or not at all influential in changing their working hours.
Future childcare plans from September 2025
The government has extended the working families entitlement offer to 30 hours funded childcare per week from September 2025 for children aged from 9 months. At the time of the survey, the expansion was not yet available. The respondents were asked about their future plans regarding the use of childcare once the expansion is in place.
An equal proportion of respondents intended to increase the number of hours their child receiving funded childcare spends in childcare from September 2025 or did not plan to change their childcare hours (45% each). Very few reported intentions to decrease their childcare hours (less than 1%).
Reasons for changing childcare hours from September 2025
The most frequently cited reasons amongst respondents reporting an intention to change the number of hours their child receiving entitlement funded childcare spends in childcare from September 2025, were to increase their working hours (61%) and to support their child's development (45%).
Household income: The lowest income households, particularly respondents earning less than £20,000, reported the highest proportion of intentions to increase their working hours (67%) following the entitlement expansion from September 2025.
Section 7: Comparison with previous surveys
The results of this survey can be compared with Wave 2 of Childcare Experiences Survey, which can be found here:
- Spring term 2024/25 Second Wave, Expansion to early childcare entitlements: Childcare Experiences Survey - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK.
Comparison of main trends:
Accessing formal (paid for) early years provision
- The proportion of parents who use formal childcare arrangements and who were able to get a childcare place at their first choice of provider remained the same in Wave 3 as it was the previous term (in Wave 2), at 91%.
- Similarly, the proportion of children placed on a waiting list before they were able to access formal childcare and those currently on a waiting list remained the same from Wave 2, at 26%.
- In both surveys, higher-income households consistently show higher uptake of the 15-hour funded childcare entitlement compared with lower-income households. For instance, in Wave 2, only 93% of those respondents with a household income of below £20,000 were claiming the entitlement compared to 97% of households earning £40,000 and above.
Experiences of applying for 15 hours childcare for eligible working families in England, via Childcare Choices
- The proportion of parents who agree that the application process for the working families' childcare entitlement was easy to follow has not changed since Wave 2 (78%).
Change in working hours since parents started claiming entitlements
- In both surveys, most parents do not change their working hours following the introduction of the entitlement.
- In Wave 2, the proportion of parents increasing their working hours was 12%- similar to the proportion in Wave 3.
- For parents who reported decreasing their working hours following the introduction of the entitlement, the proportion was 21% in Wave 2, which is only slightly higher than the proportion observed in this edition of the survey (19%).
- Both surveys reported the highest proportion of parents who increase their working hours to be among those with a household income of below £39,999 -this proportion was 19% in Wave 2.
Influence of the working families' childcare entitlements in changing respondents' working hours
- The proportion of all respondents who perceived the introduction of working families’ childcare entitlements as somewhat/very influential in changing their working hours was the same in both surveys, at 71%.
- In both surveys, the proportion of respondents who viewed the availability of the entitlement as influential was the highest among those who had increased their working hours- with the proportion being 83% in Wave 2 and 85% in Wave 3.
- Among those who had decreased their working hours, the perception of the entitlement as influential in making that decision was at 64% in both surveys.
Reasons parents wish to change their childcare hours in September 2025
- In both surveys, we asked about the respondents' intentions to change the number of hours their child spends in formal childcare once the offer of 30 hours of funded childcare is available from September 2025. A similar proportion of parents expressed the intention of increasing their childcare hours in Wave 2 (44%) compared to Wave 3 (45%).
- The proportion of parents who reported the intention to change the number of hours their child spends in childcare in order to work more hours was 62% in Wave 2, which is similar to the 61% reported in Wave 3.
Contact us
If you have a specific enquiry about Expansion to early childcare entitlements: Childcare Experiences Survey statistics and data:
Early Years Entitlements Evaluation and Analysis Team
Email: Your.childcare@education.gov.ukContact name: Julia Moldawan
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