free hours or tax credits?

Coogee

I am new to forums so please excuse any faux pars. Can anyone please let me know where I can work out which is most beneficial to us - claiming free hours for childcare (my child is only 2 1/2 years but as he is adopted he is eligible) or keeping with my current level of working tax credits, which includes a childcare element?

I have tried the government's calculator trying to do it with and then without the free hours and calculating the difference, but the amount it comes up with using current costs for us is different to what we actually get so I am unsure of the accuracy doing it this way.

Thank you.

princessdon

Do you work full time?

For example if you work mon-wed. You could either use your 15 ELG hours in that time to reduce payment or if you wanted use the free hours Thurs - Fri or a combination depending on your provider.

In essence your childcare bill will be reduced by the ELG so worth using.