Question 1

How many free childcare hours can parents get in England?

Accepted Answer

In England, eligible working parents can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year for children aged 9 months to 4 years, under Free Childcare for Working Parents. Each parent must expect to earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the minimum wage, and neither can have adjusted net income over £100,000. All 3 and 4-year-olds get 15 hours a week regardless of income, and some 2-year-olds get 15 hours if the family receives certain support. The hours can be spread over more weeks if the provider agrees. The schemes differ elsewhere. In Scotland, 3 and 4-year-olds and some 2-year-olds can get up to 1,140 hours a year, around 30 hours a week in term time. Wales and Northern Ireland run their own schemes. Free hours do not usually cover meals or extras.

Question 2

Who pays for care home fees, and what is the savings threshold?

Accepted Answer

In England, the NHS website explains that you are not usually entitled to council help with care home costs if you have savings or capital over £23,250, the upper capital limit, which can include the value of your home. Below that, the council carries out a means test and you contribute from your income. The limits differ across the UK. In Wales the limit for residential care is £50,000. In Scotland, Care Information Scotland gives an upper limit of £36,750 from 6 April 2026, and personal and nursing care are free regardless of income, with residents paying for accommodation. There is no single official average fee for all care homes. Council spending per person on long-term care is in the Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report , which covers council-funded places, not people who fund themselves.

Question 3

How many unpaid carers are there in the UK?

Accepted Answer

Census 2021 found that an estimated 5.0 million people aged 5 and over in England and Wales provided unpaid care, an age-standardised 9.0% of residents, down from 11.4% in 2011. Scotland's Census 2022 counted 627,700 unpaid carers, up 27.5% on 2011. Northern Ireland's 2021 census includes the same question. The census asked whether people look after anyone because of a long-term health condition, disability or problems related to old age. The ONS release also shows hours of care: 2.8% of people provided 50 or more hours a week. Surveys such as the DWP Family Resources Survey produce higher estimates because they ask the question differently, so a figure of "millions more carers" usually comes from a different source. Check which source and year a claim uses.

Question 4

What is a looked-after child?

Accepted Answer

In England and Wales, a looked-after child is a child in the care of a council. Under section 22 of the Children Act 1989 , that means a child subject to a care order, or one provided with accommodation by the council for more than 24 hours, for example by agreement with the parents. Looked-after children may live with foster carers, in children's homes, with relatives or, in some cases, with their parents. Young people who leave care at 16 or over are "care leavers" and have separate rights. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legislation and definitions. "Looked-after children" is not the same as "children in need" or children on child protection plans, which are wider or different groups. Official figures for each are published separately: see how many children are in care .

Question 5

How many children are on child protection plans in England?

Accepted Answer

The Department for Education's Children in need statistics, published 30 October 2025, show 49,400 children on child protection plans in England on 31 March 2025, down 1.0% on a year earlier. That is 40.6 per 10,000 children. The same release counts 402,400 children in need, 632,800 referrals to children's social care and 648,800 completed assessments during 2024-25, with figures for every council. Children in need include those on protection plans and those looked after, as well as disabled children receiving support. The DfE warns that comparisons with years before 2025 need care because of data quality issues and missing returns for some councils. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland publish separate child protection statistics on different definitions.

Question 6

How many children are in care in the UK?

Accepted Answer

There were 81,770 children looked after by councils in England on 31 March 2025, down 2% on a year earlier and below the recent peak of 83,750 in 2023, according to the Department for Education. That is 67 children per 10,000. The figure includes 6,540 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. Scotland had 11,824 looked-after children on 31 July 2025. Comparing rates on 31 March 2025, the Scottish Government reports 116 per 10,000 children in Scotland and Wales, against 96 in Northern Ireland and 67 in England. Scottish figures include children looked after at home with their parents, and the Scottish Government notes that the four nations work under different laws, so rates need care when compared. The next England release is due in November 2026. See what counts as a looked-after child .

Question 7

How much does childcare cost in England?

Accepted Answer

The Department for Education's Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers, published 11 December 2025, found that in 2025 the mean hourly fee paid by parents was £7.18 for children under 2, £7.09 for 2-year-olds and £6.78 for 3 and 4-year-olds. Private nurseries charged the most on average and childminders the least. The parents' survey, published 9 July 2026, measures what families actually pay. Among children aged 0 to 4 in paid formal childcare, the median weekly spend was £47.57 in 2025, down from £60.00 in 2024, as the expanded funded hours took effect. Hourly fees and weekly bills answer different questions, because weekly spend depends on hours used and free hours received. Both surveys cover England only.

Question 8

What is delayed discharge, and how many hospital patients are affected?

Accepted Answer

A delayed discharge is when a patient is medically ready to leave hospital but stays in a bed, often while care at home, a care home place or another service is arranged. The term "bed blocking" is sometimes used for the same thing. NHS England publishes monthly discharge delay statistics for acute hospitals, including how many patients were discharged after their discharge ready date and the average length of delay. Public Health Scotland publishes a monthly census of delayed discharges and the bed days they use, by health board and council area, and Wales and Northern Ireland report their own figures. Definitions differ between the four nations and have changed in England, so do not compare numbers across countries or older series directly. See comparing the four nations .

Question 9

How many care homes and care home residents are there in the UK?

Accepted Answer

For England, the Department of Health and Social Care publishes care home occupancy and resident numbers from the Capacity Tracker. Its quarterly update published 3 September 2026 shows 86.8% of care home beds occupied in the week ending 14 August 2026, with 355,809 residents counted in the 91.9% of providers that responded. In Scotland, Public Health Scotland's care home census counted 1,003 adult care homes with 39,919 registered places and about 34,289 residents on 31 March 2025. The Care Quality Commission publishes a monthly directory of every registered care home in England, which is the source for counting homes by area. Resident numbers from the Capacity Tracker are only for providers that responded, so they understate the full total. Check the response rate given alongside the figure.

Question 10

How many people work in adult social care in England?

Accepted Answer

Skills for Care, an official statistics producer since it was added to the Official Statistics Order in 2023, estimates there were 1.59 million filled posts in adult social care in England in 2025/26, up 1.4% on the year. Its report, published 24 June 2026, puts vacant posts at 96,000, a vacancy rate of 6.2%, the lowest since 2015/16. The figures cover councils, independent care providers and people employed directly by those who receive care, and come from the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set returned by employers. Filled posts are not the same as people, because some workers hold more than one job, so check which a claim uses. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland publish their own care workforce figures. The NHS workforce is counted separately: see how many staff work for the NHS .

Question 11

How much is Carer's Allowance and how many people get it?

Accepted Answer

Carer's Allowance is £86.45 a week for 2026-27, according to GOV.UK. You must care for someone for at least 35 hours a week and earn £204 a week or less after tax, National Insurance and expenses. People living in Scotland apply for Carer Support Payment from Social Security Scotland instead. DWP publishes the number of people entitled to Carer's Allowance each quarter. The quickest route is Stat-Xplore , which splits claims by area, age and whether the allowance is actually paid. That split matters: many people are "entitled" but receive nothing because they get another benefit, such as the State Pension, that overlaps. Claims that count all entitled carers as paid will overstate the number receiving money.

Question 12

How many children take up free childcare hours in England?

Accepted Answer

The Department for Education's January census figures, published 2 July 2026, show 1.7 million eligible children registered for a funded entitlement in England in January 2026. That includes 502,000 children aged 9 months to 2 years with working parents (80% of those estimated eligible) and 389,000 3 and 4-year-olds on the working parent hours. About 1.1 million 3 and 4-year-olds, or 90%, were registered for the universal 15 hours, a figure that counts children in school reception classes. Take-up of the 15 hours for disadvantaged 2-year-olds was 72%. The universal figure is falling partly because there are fewer young children, as births have declined. A percentage take-up is a more reliable comparison over time than a raw count. The release is on Explore Education Statistics .

Social care and childcare: your questions answered