Financial help for working parents.

Lots of benefits do unfortunately depend on parents incomes, however, there are still lots of things that all parents are entitled to.

All parents are entitled to claim child benefit. Child benefit is £20.30 a week for your first child and £13.40 a week for subsequent children.

You will be able to receive free dental care and free prescriptions while you’re pregnant and until your baby is a year old. It doesn’t matter how much you earn, all new mums and mums-to-be are entitled to this.

Child Tax Credit

You could get Child Tax Credit for each child you’re responsible for if they’re:

• under 16
• under 20 and in approved education or training

How much you will get depends on your individual circumstances, you can check how much you can get here.

Working Tax Credit

You could get Working Tax Credit if either of the following apply:

• you’re aged from 16 to 24 and have a child or a qualifying disability
• you’re 25 or over, with or without children

You must:

• work a certain number of hours a week
• get paid for the work you do (or expect to)
• have an income below a certain level

To find out how much you are entitled to, check the tax credit calculator.

Childcare

You could be entitled to extra tax credits to help pay for some of your childcare costs while you’re working.

You can get up to £122.50 extra per week for 1 child, or £210 extra for 2 or more children – it depends on how much you earn.

You’ll usually qualify for extra tax credits to help with childcare if:

• you qualify for Working Tax Credit
• you’re responsible for the child
• you work at least 16 hours per week
• the childcare you pay for is registered or approved

Your employer may be able to help you with childcare costs using childcare vouchers or other schemes so it is worth asking them about any help they provide.

Free childcare and education for 2 to 4-year-olds.

All 3 to 4-year-olds in England can get 570 hours of free early education or childcare per year. This is usually taken as 15 hours each week for 38 weeks of the year. Some 2-year-olds are also eligible.

3 to 4-year-olds

You can start claiming free childcare after your child turns 3. The date you can claim will depend on when their birthday is.

Parental Leave

Parental leave offers qualifying parents the right to take unpaid time off work to look after your child or make arrangements for their welfare. It can help you spend more time with your child and strike a better balance between your work and family commitments.

You could be entitled to parental leave if you have a child aged under 18 and have been working at your company for at least one year of continuous service.

You must also either be the parent:

• named on the child’s birth certificate
• named on the child’s adoption certificate
• with legal parental responsibility for a child under 18

If you are self-employed or a worker (for example, agency worker, contractor) then you are not entitled to parental leave.

If you are separated and you don’t live with your children, you have the right to parental leave if you keep formal parental responsibility for the children.

Each parent can take a total of up to 18 weeks’ parental leave for each of your children up to their 18th birthday.

Although parental leave is unpaid, you should check your employment contract as your individual employer may offer you pay.

CLICK HERE for more information on all of these benefits over on the government website.

All information was taken from the Governments official website, you can find details on how to apply on there.