Some parents will be expected to increase their work commitment hours from today, October 25
The Department of Work and Pensions has brought in a new rule change that will affect thousands of families on Universal Credit.
READ MORE:Wife receives HMRC letter about her husband's death - while he was sat next to her eating his lunchPreviously, parents of 3 and 4-year-olds were expected to commit to a maximum of 16 hours a week, while parents of 5 to 12-year-olds had to commit to a maximum of 25 hours. Today's changes will not affect self-employed parents of 3-to 12-year-olds, the government said.
As part of its new package, the government also plans to expand free childcare, with 15 free hours available for working parents of two-year-olds from April 2024 and 14 free hours from nine months to the start of school available from September 2024 - this will then increase to 30 free hours from September 2025.
What are the new rules around work commitments and who is affected? Today's changes apply to parents on Universal Credit who are the lead carer in their family. The number of hours you have to commit to work, or searching for work, depends on how old your child is, and today's changes alter the number of hours you must commit if you have a child between 3 and 12. The rules for children under 3 and above 12 remain the same.
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