Money Advice for Parents

This page contains information about the costs of paying for childcare and the financial help that is available for families with children. If you have any questions, please call the Family Information Service on 020 7527 5959 and one of our advisors will be happy to help.

Childminders range: about £200 to £275 weekly

Nurseries and playgroups range: £90 to £255 weekly for a full-time place at a local authority or community nurseries. This amount depends on household income, hours used, age of child and whether or not you live in the borough. It's up to £360 weekly for private nurseries.

Help Paying for Childcare (including Free Early Learning for three and four year olds): If you want help paying for childcare, there is a link to our 'Paying for Childcare' webpage on the menu on the left of your screen. This includes information about free early learning for three and four year olds, but a brief description is given below:

All three and four-year-olds, from the term after the child's third birthday, from September 2010, are entitled to 15 hours per week free nursery education during term time, if parents want to take it up. Nursery providers are encouraged to offer the 15 hours flexibly over at least three days with a minimum of two hours for any session. The level of flexibility available will vary between providers as they must ensure that their provision, while meeting the needs of parents as far as possible, remains financially viable.

After school clubs: up to about £40 weekly (concessions are often available)

Holiday provision: up to about £80 weekly (concessions are often available)

Parents and carers can find helpful information about many of the financial issues affecting them on The Money Advice Service website.

You can visit Islington's money advice pages to find more useful information.

See also the links to the left for information about tax credits and benefits and to the right for other Useful Websites.