Bristol dual-income couple — two children in nursery

The household

Priya and Dan — Fictional household. No real people or full addresses.

Priya and Dan live in Easton, Bristol. She works 37.5 hours on £38,400 a year; he works 32 hours on £31,600. Their eldest, Amara, was born on 12 September 2023. Their younger child, Jonah, was born on 8 January 2025.

On 14 August 2026 Amara is 2 years 11 months and Jonah is 1 year 7 months. Both are in a registered nursery. They pay £165 a week for Amara and £175 a week for Jonah. They already claim Child Benefit. They have not opened a Tax-Free Childcare account and have not applied for Free Childcare for Working Parents.

Friends told them a £70,000 household is 'over the limit'. That mixes up two different rules. Child Benefit itself has no household income cap. The High Income Child Benefit Charge starts when one person's adjusted net income is over £60,000. Priya is the higher earner at £38,400, so the charge does not apply on these figures.

Worked pounds

Source: contracts/tax-year-2026-27.json (checkedOn 2026-08-14). 52 weeks a year; nearest pound (Math.round).

What this example is for

• HICBC is tested on the higher earner's income, not the couple's combined pay.
• Tax-Free Childcare is 20% of what you actually pay a registered provider, capped at £500 a quarter per child.
• If 30 hours reduce the paid bill, the Tax-Free Childcare top-up falls with it. Free hours are not turned into pounds here — the tax-year file has no hourly nursery rate.

What stacks

Recommended combination: child_benefit + tax_free_childcare + free_childcare_hours

• Keep claiming Child Benefit. There is no HICBC on these incomes.
• Open Tax-Free Childcare for both children.
• Apply for 30 hours; watch the term-start dates. Do not convert those hours into a made-up cash saving.

Conflict: tax_free_childcare and uc_childcare — Official rules treat Tax-Free Childcare and the Universal Credit childcare element as mutually exclusive.

What they would do next

1. Keep Child Benefit in payment

   You do not need to opt out on these figures. The charge is about the higher earner, not the £70,000 household total. Confirm on GOV.UK if either income moves toward £60,000.

2. Open a Tax-Free Childcare account

   The government adds £2 for every £8 you pay in, up to £500 a quarter per child, if you use a registered provider. Reconfirm eligibility every 3 months.

   Apply in time for the quarter you will pay the nursery.

3. Apply for 30 hours free childcare

   Both children are old enough on this snapshot. Codes are issued for a specific term — a child who becomes eligible mid-term usually waits until the next term.

   Check the term application dates on GOV.UK before the term you need.

FamilyProfile JSON

This is the calculator input for the household. Field names match contracts/family-profile.schema.json.

{
  "schemaVersion": "1.0.0",
  "country": "england",
  "taxYear": "2026-27",
  "adults": [
    {
      "id": "bristol-parent",
      "role": "parent",
      "employment": "employed",
      "grossAnnualIncomeGbp": 38400,
      "weeklyHours": 37.5,
      "nationalInsuranceEligible": true
    },
    {
      "id": "bristol-partner",
      "role": "partner",
      "employment": "employed",
      "grossAnnualIncomeGbp": 31600,
      "weeklyHours": 32,
      "nationalInsuranceEligible": true
    }
  ],
  "children": [
    {
      "id": "bristol-child-1",
      "dateOfBirth": "2023-09-12",
      "isEldest": true,
      "disabled": false,
      "inPaidChildcare": true,
      "weeklyChildcareCostGbp": 165
    },
    {
      "id": "bristol-child-2",
      "dateOfBirth": "2025-01-08",
      "isEldest": false,
      "disabled": false,
      "inPaidChildcare": true,
      "weeklyChildcareCostGbp": 175
    }
  ],
  "alreadyClaiming": [
    "child_benefit"
  ],
  "housing": {
    "postcode": "BS5",
    "localAuthority": "Bristol City Council"
  },
  "flags": {
    "noRecourseToPublicFunds": false,
    "adopting": false,
    "caringForDisabledChild": false
  }
}

GOV.UK check on 2026-08-14

Case pages must not invent rates. Where the live page and the tax-year file disagree, the file still wins for the arithmetic — A9 needs to reconcile.

• matchChild Benefit weekly rates. Contract: £27.05 / £17.90 Live: GOV.UK /child-benefit-rates on 2026-08-14 listed £27.05 / £17.90
• matchHICBC threshold. Contract: £60,000, zero at £80,000 Live: GOV.UK /child-benefit-tax-charge still describes £60,000 / £80,000 for tax years from 2024-25
• matchTax-Free Childcare top-up and cap. Contract: 20% (described as £2 per £8), £500 a quarter, £100,000 income cap Live: GOV.UK /tax-free-childcare matches
• match30 hours income floor. Contract: £10,574.72 a year (21+) Live: GOV.UK /30-hours-free-childcare listed £2,643.68 over 3 months for ages 21+