Can I get 30 hours childcare on maternity leave before I return to work?

Does maternity leave count as work for 30 hours?

Usually, for the work test. GOV.UK — check if you’re eligible says you can usually get Free Childcare for Working Parents if you (and your partner, if you have one) are in work or starting a new job, on sick leave or annual leave, or on shared parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave. Statutory Neonatal Care Pay and Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave are on the same list. Best Start in Life repeats that list for working parents in England.

Best Start in Life splits the child. If you are applying for an older child who is not the subject of the parental leave, you apply as normal. If you are applying for the child the leave is about, you can still apply, but the date you return to work affects when the hours can start. That second table is the one return-to-work mums hit and calculators often skip.

This is about funded hours in England, not Statutory Maternity Pay. Do not copy an SMP weekly figure from a forum; official statutory rates change each April and sit on a different GOV.UK page.

When does GOV.UK say I can take the hours if I am returning?

The when to apply page says the date you return to work affects when you can apply, and that paid annual leave on salary counts as having returned. You can apply from when the child is 23 weeks old. When the hours can start still depends on when the child turns 9 months, and on the return-date table:

A separate table on the same GOV.UK page sets when hours start from the child’s 9-month birthday (September–December birthdays from 1 January, and so on). Both conditions have to line up: age and return date.

What extra dates apply on shared parental leave?

GOV.UK has a further rule if you are on shared parental leave for the child you are applying for. You can apply if both parents have either returned or will be returning to work within one month of the start of the autumn, spring or summer term. Both parents must have returned or be returning by:

• 30 September for the autumn term
• 31 January for the spring term
• 30 April for the summer term

Best Start in Life says that if one parent is starting or returning while the other stays on parental leave until a later date, you are only eligible to apply once both parents have returned or have a start or return date within one month of the start of term (those same three dates). That is the both-parents rule, not a single-mum maternity table.

How do I apply from 23 weeks while I am still on leave?

1. 1
   Read the live GOV.UK tables first Open When to apply. Match your return date (or paid annual-leave-on-salary date) to the term, and check the 9-month birthday table. If you are on shared parental leave for this child, also check the both-parents-back-by dates.
2. 2
   Apply on the Childcare Service Use Apply for free childcare if you live in England. You need National Insurance numbers, a Unique Taxpayer Reference if you are self-employed and have one, and the child’s UK birth-certificate reference if you have it.
3. 3
   Give the 11-digit code to the provider Once the account shows a code, pass it to the setting with your National Insurance number and the child’s date of birth. A place is still subject to the provider having space.
4. 4
   Reconfirm every 3 months If you apply early, you still sign in every 3 months so the code stays valid before the term starts.

In shortIn short: leave can satisfy the work test. Hours for the baby you are on leave with follow the return-date table. Paid annual leave on salary counts as a return. Shared parental leave for that child needs both parents back by the published dates. Use the live GOV.UK tables, not a guessed SMP week.