Kemi Badenoch arrived in Birmingham on Saturday ahead of the Conservative Party’s annual conference, where she set out a pledge to end the £100,000 income threshold for childcare support.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, the Conservative leader called the system “absurd” and a disincentive to work. “What we want to see is that people who work harder don't get punished for doing so,” she said. “It doesn't matter what you earn - we don't want you to be punished for working hard. What we're trying to do is grow our economy.”
The Conservatives say they would remove the threshold entirely if they return to power. The announcement came on the eve of the party’s conference in Birmingham, as the Conservatives trail Labour and Reform UK in polling.
Since September 2025, working parents in England have been entitled to 30 hours of free childcare for children aged between nine months and four years old, provided both parents earn less than £100,000 a year. If either parent earns above that amount, the family loses its entitlement to the 30-hour scheme.
The same £100,000 limit applies to tax-free childcare. For every £8 parents pay into an online childcare account, the government adds £2, up to £2,000 per child per year. All three and four-year-olds can receive 15 hours of free childcare regardless of parental income.
Economists have criticised the threshold because a pay rise of tens of thousands of pounds can still leave a family worse off overall. Earnings of one extra pound above £100,000 can have that effect.
Under the Conservative proposal, all parents working 16 or more hours a week would qualify for 30 hours of free care each week. The party puts the annual cost of ending the cliff edge at £700 million.
It says the policy would be paid for by reducing the number of public servants in executive non-departmental public bodies, including Arts Council England and the Environment Agency. The Conservatives estimate those reductions would save £1.6 billion by 2029-30, and say NHS bodies would be excluded.
The party argues that the present threshold can affect decisions about having children, with some people delaying parenthood until their income changes or deciding against starting a family. It also says the rule is unfair because it is based on an individual earner’s income rather than total household income.
The threshold was created under the previous Conservative government, when former chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that parents with income under £100,000 could claim 30 hours of free childcare for under four-year-olds.
Andrew Griffith, the shadow chancellor, presented the proposal as part of a wider tax agenda. “Removing this childcare cliff edge is the first step in our mission to deliver lower, simpler, and fairer taxes across the board,” he said.
The Conservatives said the change would be a “first step” in addressing parts of the tax system that weaken incentives to work or invest.
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