Report of the Childcare Offer for Wales: September 2023 to August 2024

The present report was informed by the following data sources:

• monitoring information collected by the Welsh Government from parents and providers
• surveys of parents and providers conducted in July and August of 2023 and 2024

Main findings

• A total of 21,283 children used hours of childcare funded through the Offer.
• Based on current eligibility criteria, we estimate that 58% of eligible children accessed the Offer in 2023-24.
• Claims are made by childcare providers to the Welsh Government for payment. Around 28% of claims were either in services using Welsh (17.6%) or both languages (10.2%).
• The median gross annual earnings of parents accessing the Offer (£30,800) was lower than for full-time working adults in Wales (£34,303).
• A majority of parent respondents reported that the application was time consuming and a large minority reported that providing the required documentation was difficult.
• A large majority of parents (89%) were already using formal childcare before accessing the Offer. Over 40% were using more than 21 hours per week.
• Parent survey responses suggest that the strongest impact of the Offer is on reducing the financial burden of childcare, though large majorities of surveyed parents have also reported positive impacts on their ability to work and on wellbeing.