Kemi Badenoch has pledged to abolish the £100,000 earnings threshold which can cause working parents in England to lose government childcare support, under a new Conservative policy announced as the party begins its annual conference in Birmingham.
Under the proposal, the Conservatives would remove the upper-income limit from the working-parent childcare offer, meaning parents would no longer lose their entitlement simply because one parent’s adjusted net income rises above £100,000.
The party says the measure would cost around £700 million a year and would be funded through reductions in staffing at arm’s-length public bodies.
Those figures are Conservative Party estimates and the proposal is not current government policy.
Conservatives target £100,000 childcare 'cliff edge'
Under existing rules in England, working parents can qualify for 30 hours of government-funded childcare from the term after a child turns nine months until they start school, subject to employment, income and other eligibility requirements.
However, eligibility is lost if either parent has expected adjusted net income above £100,000 for the tax year.
The same £100,000 adjusted-net-income ceiling also applies to Tax-Free Childcare, under which the Government adds £2 for every £8 a parent pays into an online childcare account, up to £2,000 per child each year.
The Conservatives say they would remove the £100,000 upper threshold entirely. Reports of the policy say parents would still have to meet the underlying work requirement.
The universal 15-hour entitlement for all three- and four-year-olds is separate and is already available regardless of parental income.
Badenoch says parents should not be penalised for earning more
Badenoch described the existing threshold as an “absurd cliff edge”, arguing that it can discourage parents from accepting promotions, increasing their hours or earning more.
She said Conservatives believed people should not be “punished for working more” and argued that childcare decisions can particularly affect women's career progression because women often carry a greater share of childcare responsibilities.
Speaking on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Badenoch said the policy would apply regardless of how much a qualifying parent earned, arguing that the party wanted to remove disincentives to work.
The Conservatives have presented the proposal as both a family policy and an economic measure intended to strengthen incentives to remain in work or increase earnings.
Policy estimated to cost £700m a year
Conservative officials estimate removing the threshold would cost approximately £700 million annually.
The party says it would pay for the policy by reducing the number of public servants employed by executive non-departmental public bodies — organisations operating at arm's length from ministers.
It says reductions across bodies including organisations such as Arts Council England and the Environment Agency could save approximately £1.6 billion by 2029/30.
The Conservatives say NHS bodies would be excluded from those staffing reductions.
Both the £700 million cost and the projected £1.6 billion saving are Conservative Party estimates rather than independently verified savings already achieved by government.
Labour criticises proposal
Labour criticised the announcement, arguing that the Conservatives were prioritising a change benefiting higher earners and pointing out that the £100,000 threshold was maintained under previous Conservative governments.
The Government says its existing childcare programme provides 30 funded hours for eligible working families and is also expanding free primary-school breakfast clubs.
The political disagreement therefore centres not on whether childcare support should exist, but on whether the upper-income restriction on the working-parent schemes should remain.
Policy announced as Tory conference begins
The announcement comes as the Conservative Party gathers in Birmingham for its annual conference, running from 4 to 7 October 2026.
The childcare proposal forms part of a series of policies being announced by Badenoch and her shadow cabinet as the Conservatives set out their programme for a future government.