KiddiVouchers childcare voucher scheme
05 Jul 2012
National Childcare Week 2-9 July.
Daycare Trust's National Childcare Week, now in its 15th year, aims to promote the importance of childcare, extended schools, and early years provision for children which helps to strengthen children's play and learning to provide a good foundation for their future.
The University of Manchester runs a KiddiVouchers childcare voucher scheme. You can receive up to £243 a month of tax-free childcare vouchers instead of part of your salary. This simple exchange could save you over £900* a year. You can use childcare vouchers for nurseries, childminders, nannies, out-of-school care and holiday schemes for children up to age 15. Registration is completely free and takes less than 10 minutes.
Make the most of your employee benefits by signing up for KiddiVouchers today.
Making a difference in National Childcare Week
If you are a working parent, you'll know only too well that the cost of childcare is a challenge for many families. Childcare costs typically rise faster than inflation, with costs for the care of under-twos rising by 5.8% on average last year (based on the Daycare Trust's 2012 survey).
The Government has now indicated that it wants to do more to help working parents. For example, last month David Cameron announced the launch of a Childcare Commission to look at ways of making childcare more affordable.
With childcare back on the political agenda, this National Childcare Week is the perfect time to let you know about the "Mind the Gap" childcare voucher campaign. This campaign calls on the Government to consider narrowing the gap between the tax-exempt childcare voucher allowance and the true cost of childcare.
This campaign is aiming for the basic childcare voucher allowance, which has been unchanged since 2006, to be increased from £55 a week to £75 a week. This would provide parents with additional savings of around £300 a year, while also providing additional National Insurance savings for family-friendly employers.
If you would like to add your voice to this campaign, sign the Government petition. The petition needs to attract 100,000 signatures to become eligible for discussion in the House of Commons before next year's Budget - so, if campaigns are your thing, please get talking, tweeting and posting to spread the word!
Alternatively, if you would like to learn more about the different types of childcare support which are being considered, or to find out more about why childcare vouchers are such a good way of helping working parents, please go to:
If you are current user of, or looking at potential childcare for your child, the Good Care Guide enables families using childcare or eldercare to find, rate and review their care provider(s). Sign up now to have your say to help improve care and help other families choose better care. Launched in February the guide has attracted hundreds of thousands of visits and reviews. Good Care Guide was set up by My Family Care and United for All Ages and works with Daycare Trust, Ofsted and other national organisations.