64% said childcare got cheaper. Only 45% call it affordable
What happened
On 24 September 2026, the Department for Education published the results of its Childcare Experiences Survey, covering the rollout of 15 hours of funded childcare for working parents. This is a big piece of research. The survey was sent to 119,970 people across three waves, all of them parents in England who had applied for the 15-hour entitlement. Two voluntary follow-up surveys tracked how the same parents' experiences changed over about six months. The entitlement itself has grown in stages. It started in April 2024 as 15 hours of funded childcare for two-year-olds. It was then extended to cover children from nine months old up to school age. In September 2025 it increased to 30 hours. The headline findings from the first year of the 15-hour entitlement: - Around 80% of parents found the application process easy to follow - More than 90% of parents who applied went on to claim - Most parents who used the entitlement found a place at their preferred provider - Waiting lists were a problem for around 26% of parents who claimed — and for between 40% and 46% of those who had not claimed at the time of the survey - Just under half — 45% — thought childcare costs were affordable for their family - But around six in ten said their costs had fallen since claiming: 64% in Wave 2 and 61% in Wave 3 - Around 80% said the entitlement influenced decisions about their employment The report was written by DfE analysts Julia Moldawan, Samuel Newton, Gabriela Rodriguez and Chloe Tabor.
Why this matters
There is a puzzle sitting in the middle of these findings, and it is worth pulling apart. Six in ten parents said their childcare costs went down. Yet fewer than half said childcare was affordable. Both things are true at once. The funded hours genuinely reduced what families paid. They did not reduce it enough to make childcare feel affordable. If your bill falls from very high to high, you notice the fall and you still cannot comfortably pay it. That gap is the single most useful thing in this report, because it tells you what the policy did and did not achieve. It moved the number. It did not solve the problem. The waiting list figures matter for a different reason. Around 26% of parents who claimed hit waiting list problems. Among parents who had not claimed, it was 40% to 46%. That is a large gap, and it suggests waiting lists are not just an annoyance — for a meaningful number of families they are the reason the entitlement never happened at all. A funded place you cannot get is worth nothing. And the employment figure — around 80% saying the entitlement influenced their employment decisions — shows how tightly childcare and work are tied together for parents of very young children.
What the evidence actually says
The report is unusually careful about its own limits, and those caveats deserve repeating. The most important one: the surveys were carried out between October 2024 and August 2025, during the 15-hour rollout and before the 30-hour entitlement became available in September 2025. The report states plainly that the results 'do not reflect experiences of accessing the entitlement under the current policy arrangements'. So this is a picture of a policy stage that has since moved on. There is a hint about what changed, though. The proportion of parents who saw childcare as affordable increased in the follow-up surveys, which were collected during the expansion to 30 hours. More funded hours appears to have helped with the affordability feeling — which is what you would expect. On the employment finding, the report adds a genuinely important warning. Around 80% said the entitlement influenced their employment decisions, but the authors caution that employment choices are shaped by many personal and financial factors, and that this 'should not be interpreted as a measure of the entitlement's impact on labour market participation'. In other words: parents say it mattered to them, but you cannot read this as proof of how many extra people went to work. Most parents did not change their working hours after the expansion. Parents from lower-income households were slightly more likely to increase theirs. One more thing about method. This is a survey of people who applied for the entitlement. It does not capture parents who never applied — who may be the ones facing the biggest barriers.
Practical advice
If you have a child under school age, these are the things most worth doing. 1. Check what you are entitled to now rather than what you were entitled to when your child was born. The entitlement has changed three times in two years. Childcare Choices on GOV.UK is the official place to check, and it covers funded hours, Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit childcare support. 2. Apply as early as you can, and get on waiting lists earlier than feels reasonable. Waiting lists were a problem for around a quarter of parents who claimed and up to nearly half of those who did not. In practice, that means contacting settings well before you need the place. 3. Apply even if you are not certain you will use it. More than 90% of parents who applied went on to claim, and applying costs you nothing. Having a code you do not use is much better than needing one you do not have. 4. Ask providers about extra charges in writing. Funded hours cover the hours — not necessarily meals, nappies, consumables or trips. Get the full monthly figure, not the headline rate. 5. If your circumstances change, reconfirm your eligibility on time. Codes need periodic reconfirmation, and missing that deadline is one of the most common ways families lose funded hours. 6. If cost is still the barrier after funded hours, check Tax-Free Childcare and, if you receive Universal Credit, the childcare element. These can be used alongside funded hours, and many families do not realise that. 7. Ask your health visitor or children's centre about local options. They often know which settings genuinely have space.
What to know
The Department for Education has published results from its Childcare Experiences Survey on the 15-hour funded childcare rollout, based on questionnaires sent to 119,970 parents in England. The application system largely worked: around 80% found it easy to follow and more than 90% of applicants went on to claim. Around six in ten said their childcare costs had fallen — 64% in one wave and 61% in another. But only 45% considered childcare affordable for their family, and waiting lists were a problem for around 26% of those who claimed and 40% to 46% of those who had not. Getting a place, not getting the funding, is the sticking point for many families. The key caveat is the timing. The fieldwork ran from October 2024 to August 2025, before the 30-hour entitlement began, and the department says the results do not reflect the current policy. Affordability perceptions did improve in the later follow-up surveys. The practical takeaways: check your current entitlement rather than assuming, apply early even if you are unsure, join waiting lists sooner than feels necessary, and get all extra charges in writing before you commit. Sources: Department for Education, 'Childcare Experiences Survey: 15 hours childcare expansion', 24 September 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-experiences-survey-15-hours-childcare-expansion ; Julia Moldawan, Samuel Newton, Gabriela Rodriguez and Chloe Tabor, 'Expansion to early childcare entitlements: Childcare Experiences Survey results for the rollout of 15 hours', Department for Education, September 2026, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6ab39caafceb6fb3a650105f/Expansion_to_early_childcare_entitlements_Childcare_Experiences_Survey_results_for_the_rollout.pdf ; GOV.UK, 'Childcare Choices', https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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