Childcare element
If you are working, you can get help with up to 85 per cent of your childcare costs, up to a maximum monthly amount. You must be in paid work, but there is no minimum number of hours that you must work. If you have a partner, you must both be in paid work, unless your partner is ill or disabled, or a carer.
Example
Jo is 23 and a full-time, second-year undergraduate in Canterbury. She is the lone parent of Colum, who was born in May 2019. Jo gets a tuition fee loan of £9,250 for the year, as well as a loan for living costs of £6,801, a special support element of £4,014, a parent’s learning allowance of £1,821 and a childcare grant of £3,900. She also receives child benefit of £21.15 per week.
During the academic year September 2021 to May 2022:
Step one Jo has no savings or capital.
Step two Her maximum amount of UC is:
Standard allowance for a single person under 25 | £344.00 |
Housing costs | £608.00 |
Total | £952.00 |
Step three Her monthly income is:
The tuition fee loan, special support element, parent’s learning allowances, childcare grant and child benefit are all disregarded. The loan is divided over eight months of the academic year, and £110 of the remaining amount is disregarded (see Chapter 21).
Step four Her income is below her maximum amount, so she gets UC of £211.88 per month although note that an additional £20 per week has been added to the standard allowance since April 2020 due to coronavirus, and this may be removed from 1 October 2021. See CPAG’s Welfare Rights Bulletin for updates.
From May 2022 to September 2022:
Step two Jo’s maximum amount of UC is still £952 (at 2021/22 rates), although the additional £20 per week payment due to coronavirus noted above may be removed from 1 October 2021.
Step three Her weekly income for UC purposes is nil. This is because Jo’s student income only counts until the assessment period before the summer vacation.
Step four From May 2022 to September 2022, her monthly UC (at 2021/22 rates) is £952, so she gets maximum UC from May to September.