How 5 minute task helped me save £230 a month on childcare and 800,000 parents are still missing out
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AS a mum of three kids all requiring various forms of childcare, saving money is one of my top priorities. But it was only last year that I decided to take the plunge and open a tax-free childcare account - and immediately saved myself thousands of pounds a year.
![[Portrait of Emma Robertson.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Emma-Robertson-2.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
I now can’t believe it took me years to open an account and I’d urge other mums to take the time as soon as possible. With one child, Georgia, going to after school club and twins Charlie and Bobbi in childcare three days a week since they were six-months-old, I’m kicking myself at how much money I could've saved over the past few years if I’d applied sooner.
![[Headshot of Emma Robertson.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Emma-Robertson-3.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Tax-free childcare is a scheme that offers parents up to £2,000 a year per child towards childcare costs including nurseries and holiday camps. But around 800,000 families of the 1.3million eligible are thought to be missing out on the benefit because they haven’t applied.
This might be because of its confusing name, which means parents don’t really understand the significant savings available. The scheme allows you to save money into an account for childcare costs, and the government will top up 20% of your savings. So, for example, for every £8 you pay into your online childcare account, the government will pay in £2 that you can use to pay your childcare provider.
I’d been told about tax-free childcare in passing before, but didn’t really understand how it worked or what the benefit would be. Plus, getting it set up seemed too complicated and I didn’t think I had the few hours it required to open the accounts.
