A new system being introduced by the UK Government will help tens of thousands of working families in Scotland, saving them up to £1,200 per child every year.
The Tax-Free Childcare scheme will directly benefit 210,000 families in Scotland where both parents are in employment to help them with childcare costs.
It will be phased in from the autumn of 2015, and will save the typical family with two children under 12 £2,400 a year.
The programme will see working families claim 20 per cent of their childcare costs back through a voucher system.
The Scottish Conservatives are now urging the Scottish Government to provide help for vulnerable families with two-year-old children and encourage more flexible working patterns for parents returning to work.
Last month, the Growing Up in Scotland report found the average childcare bill had soared by £600 a year, and that only ten per cent of parents found it easy to fund childcare.
Nanette Milne, Scottish Conservative MSP for the North East said:
“This move will be very welcome by parents across the North East and is set to help more than 200,000 families across Scotland.
“We want to see hard-working families helped and rewarded, and what better way of doing that than providing financial support which will give them more confidence in returning to the workplace.
“A report last month showed just how crippling childcare costs have become in Scotland.
“Now, the UK Government has taken positive steps to help hard-working families in Scotland. I want to see the Scottish Government doing its bit to make it even easier for families to get on.
“It needs to raise its game by providing free care for vulnerable families with two-years-olds, which would mirror a similar scheme south of the border.
“That would make Scotland a better place for families who want to do best by their child and return to work.”