Tories pledge to scrap £100,000 childcare 'cliff edge'
The UK Conservative Party has pledged to remove the £100,000 income threshold for childcare support to prevent a 'cliff edge' that discourages high earners from working. The policy is presented as a measure to improve labor market incentives.
Why it matters
This policy shift addresses economic concerns regarding tax traps and workforce participation among high-income families.
Figure caption, Watch: People shouldn't be punished for working harder, Badenoch says
The Conservatives have promised to scrap the "absurd cliff edge" that mean parents in England lose out on childcare support when they earn more than £100,000 a year.
Under the current system, only families where no parent earns more than this threshold are eligible for government-funded or tax-free childcare.
"What we want to see is that people who work harder don't get punished for doing so," Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.
The announcement comes as Conservative members gather for the party's annual conference in Birmingham.
The party said the move would be a "first step" in broader efforts to address issues in the tax system which damage incentives to work or invest.
This will be a theme of shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith's conference speech on Monday.
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