Two major changes for parents including child benefit and free childcare revealed in Tory manifesto

RISHI Sunak has pledged to make two huge changes to childcare and child benefits if elected – saving families £1,480 a year.

The PM promised to double the household income threshold for child benefits from £60,000 to £120,000 with 30 free hours of childcare a week also promised from next year.

PA

Rishi Sunak confirmed the pledge as he launched the Conservative manifesto in Northamptonshire[/caption]

The proposal would be a “fairer” deal for single-earner households and the Conservatives claim it will benefit over 700,000 families across the country.

Stamp duty is currently paid on homes worth more than £250,000 with the rate ranging from five per cent to 12 per cent of the price depending on the value of the property.

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Mr Sunak’s manifesto includes pledges to

• CUT National Insurance by a further 2p by 2027, taking the main rate to 6 per cent
• ABOLISH National Insurance entirely for self-employed workers by 2029
• PROTECT pensioners from ever paying income tax with a new Triple Lock Plus
• GIVE working parents 30 hours a week free childcare by September next year
• CREATE a mandatory new form of national service for 18-year-olds
• IMPOSE a ban on any new green levies that makes Brits pay for Net Zero
• BAN mobile phones in classrooms as well as clamping down on sex education
• BOOSTING defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030
• SLAP an annual cap on legal migration while pledging immediate Rwanda flights
• CUT stamp duty on houses for first time buyers up to £425,000

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The new child benefit system will move to assessing the joint family salary rather than on an individual basis in a bid to end the unfairness.

The rates will remain £25.60 a week for the eldest or only child, raised from £24 in April, with £16.95 a week for younger children, up from £15.90.

The hand-out will be paid back gradually through a taper rate until the overall family income hits £160,000.

The biggest beneficiaries will be single-earner households and homes where one individual earns substantially more than the other.

It follows a decision in the Budget in April by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to raise the threshold at which child benefits must be paid back from £50,000 to £60,000.

Today’s Tory manifesto pledges to “end the unfairness in Child Benefit by moving to a household system, so families don’t start losing Child Benefit until their combined income reaches £120,000 – saving the average family which benefits £1,500.”

And on childcare, the manifesto commits to keep existing promises to offer 30 hours a week of free childcare for kids aged between nine months and five years old by September 2025, up from the 15 hours a week which will be offered from September.

The Manifesto continues: “This is the right thing for families and the right thing for the economy.

“But it still isn’t fair that single-earner households can start losing their child benefit when a household with two working parents and a much higher total income can keep it in full.

“We will end this unfairness by moving to a household rather than individual basis for Child Benefit.

“So nobody is worse off than under the current system, we will set the combined household income at which a family will start losing Child Benefit at £120,000 and gradually remove it until household income reaches £160,000, above which families will no longer receive Child Benefit.

“This will benefit over 700,000 households, each gaining an average of £1,480 a year.”