Over 8,700 families in Northern Ireland now saving money on childcare through Universal Credit

Universal Credit was first introduced to Northern Ireland in 2017 however since April 2025 this has fully replaced Child Tax Credits as the main means tested benefit for families with children. It is now the main means tested benefit supporting working families who are paying registered childcare costs.

After a large uplift in the number of families claiming Universal Credit from 2024, as they were forced to move away from Tax Credits, the numbers have plateaued and shown a slight drop over the past few months. This could be due to a number of reasons, such as the ending of the transitional protection period for families who had a year’s grace before the full Universal Credit eligibility rules applied, or it could be parents moving to Tax-Free Childcare and the Northern Ireland Childcare Subsidy Scheme as a more beneficial form of support towards their childcare costs.

The most recent figures released by the Department for Communities for Northern Ireland show that there are 91,990 households with children in Northern Ireland receiving Universal Credit. Of these households with children, there are 8,710 households in receipt of the Childcare Element of Universal Credit in August 2025, this is an increase of almost 31%, 2,050 households over the past 2 years.

Universal Credit Childcare Element

If you pay for childcare while you go to work, Universal Credit can pay some of your registered childcare costs. You can get up to 85% of childcare costs paid back to you.

The recent figures show that the average monthly amount of support for childcare costs paid by Universal Credit through the Childcare element in August 2025 was £550. This is the highest monthly contribution to childcare costs through Universal Credit since the benefit was introduced in Northern Ireland. This amounts to almost £4.8 million per month in childcare support being paid through Universal Credit, and just over £56 million in the past year.

Universal Credit two child cap

In the recent budget the Chancellor announced the scrapping of the two child policy from April 2026. This policy means that, since 2017, families only receive support through Universal Credit for their first two children. These most recent statistics show that there are 13,780 households in Northern Ireland claiming Universal Credit who are losing out on support through this policy. Within those households there are 17,600 children who are currently not being financially supported through Universal Credit, and who will start to benefit from this change from April 2026.

Further information

We know that there are many families who are still missing out on all the financial support with childcare they could be entitled to.

There are a range of support schemes available to help with registered childcare costs including Tax-Free Childcare, the NI Childcare Subsidy Scheme, Universal Credit and for also for existing claimants Childcare Vouchers. What is best for your family will depend on your circumstances and the Family Benefits Advice Service can help you work this out.

We would encourage all parents to make sure they are receiving all the financial support they are entitled to with their childcare costs, and to check regularly that they are receiving the best form of support for their family.

If you would like further advice on help with childcare costs or wish to find out more about what financial support you may be entitled to, contact our Family Benefits Advice Service for free, impartial and confidential advice.

Contact us by emailing fbas@employersforchildcare.org – we are here to help.