20 Hours Early Childhood Education

20 Hours Early Childhood Education (ECE) makes early childhood education more affordable for families. It is available for all families regardless of their income and working hours.

Children aged 3,4 and 5 years old attending an early childhood education service (e.g. kindergartens, centre based, home-based, kōhanga reo and playcentres), offering 20 Hours ECE may be able to get up to 6 hours per day, 20 hours per week free childcare.

The funding is available for all licensed early childhood education providers, including centre-based and home-based providers.

Note playgroups cannot get 20 Hours ECE funding.

The funding is paid directly to the provider by the Ministry of Education. Families have the choice of taking up 20 Hours ECE if their child is attending an early childhood education service offering 20 Hours ECE funding.

Families who take up 20 Hours ECE complete an 'attestation' form with the provider that sets out information about which hours they wish to get 20 Hours ECE funding for. Families can get 20 Hours ECE in more than one service, but the total number of hours cannot be more than 20 hours a week.

20 Hours ECE is not mandatory. Providers do not have to offer 20 Hours ECE.

Providers cannot charge fees for the same hours as 20 Hours ECE, but they can ask families to make an optional payment for other hours of enrolment that are not covered by the 20 Hours ECE funding. Clients can choose whether to pay this or not.

The only exception is when a home-based educator charges a home-based educator top up payment for the same hours as 20 Hours ECE. Providers may charge these payments on behalf of a home-based educator.