The Greens' 35 Hours Free Childcare From 9 Months: what it's worth

The Greens' plan: 35 hours' free childcare from nine months

The Green Party would extend free childcare to 35 hours a week from the age of nine months, for all families — going beyond today's 30-hour offer for working parents, at a cost the party pairs with its wealth-tax plans.

Status: Proposal — not law Region: England Party: Green Party From: Manifesto & current platform

What's proposed

Today's system gives working parents in England 30 free hours a week from nine months — but only in term time (38 weeks), only if both parents work and neither earns over £100,000. The Greens would raise that to 35 hours a week from nine months for every family, removing the work requirements, negotiated with the sector rather than imposed at today's contested funding rates.

What it would be worth

At typical nursery rates (£6–9/hour), five extra funded hours across more weeks plus universal eligibility is worth roughly £1,500–£3,000+ per child per year for families currently outside the 30-hour offer (a non-working parent, or one earner over £100k), and £500–£1,500 for those already inside it. It also unwinds one of the tax system's strangest cliffs: crossing £100,000 currently costs a parent the entire childcare offer at once.

The case for and against

For: childcare is many families' second-biggest bill; universalism removes cliff edges and work-requirement bureaucracy; the sector says current funded rates underpay — "negotiation" acknowledges that.
Against: costs run to billions on top of today's expanded offer; nurseries already can't staff the 30-hour promise — hours on paper aren't places in practice; and it competes with the Greens' other spending against the same wealth-tax revenue, which the IFS calls uncertain.

The comparison

Labour is delivering the 30-hour working-family offer plus free school meals for UC families; the Conservatives built the 30-hour framework; Reform focuses on the tax side of family budgets. See your family's whole picture in the all-party impact calculator.

Sources & further reading

Green Party — manifesto and childcare policy.
Institute for Fiscal Studies — childcare funding and Green costings analysis.
Early Years Alliance — sector capacity and funded-rate evidence.

Figures are from public material and may change. Not financial, legal or tax advice.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Green Party's childcare policy?

35 hours a week of free childcare from nine months old for all families in England — extending today's 30-hour, term-time, working-parents-only offer to everyone, with funding rates negotiated with the sector.

How much would 35 hours' free childcare be worth?

Roughly £1,500–£3,000+ per child per year for families currently excluded from the 30-hour offer, and £500–£1,500 for those already in it, depending on local rates and weeks used. It would also remove the £100,000 childcare cliff edge.

What's the catch with free childcare hours?

Capacity. Nurseries report staffing shortages and say funded rates don't cover costs — so entitlements on paper can mean waiting lists in practice. Any expansion stands or falls on the funding rate, which is why the Green plan emphasises negotiation with the sector.