The Free Childcare Scheme, explained

Malta's Free Childcare Scheme pays for childcare for working and studying parents. Here's who qualifies, what it covers, and how your hours are worked out.

Who qualifies?

Children whose parents are both employed or in education. For a single parent, that means being employed and paying social security contributions. "In education" means studying towards a recognised qualification.

Parents on parental leave or a career break are not eligible.

Two further groups are eligible and are easy to miss:

• Fostering parents — you'll need an official document from the Fostering Board.
• Parents not in employment because of a terminal illness — the scheme may be extended to you.

What ages does it cover?

From three months to three years. It ends once your child is eligible to start Kindergarten 1 in a state school.

How are my hours calculated?

Only one parent's hours count. The scheme calculates your entitlement from the hours worked by the mother, or Parent 1 — not from both parents' hours combined, and not from the father's hours if he works more. This catches a lot of families out.

To that figure the scheme adds two allowances:

• Parent 1's average monthly working hours, plus
• 10% for exigencies, plus
• 20 hours a month for commuting.

So where Parent 1 works 20 hours a week: roughly 86.7 hours a month, plus 8.67, plus 20 — about 115 hours a month. Students are counted at 20 hours a week part-time or 40 hours full-time.

We don't know whether the 10% and 20-hour allowances apply to students in the same way — the scheme documentation doesn't say. Worth asking the scheme office directly.

Work out your hours, step by step →

What about the “210 hours a month” in the news?

When the four-year scheme agreement was signed on 3 February 2026 it was reported as giving “210 hours of free childcare per month per child”. That is the same formula applied to a full-time parent: 40 hours a week is 173.3 hours a month, plus 10%, plus 20 hours — 210. It isn't a separate allocation, and the scheme's own circulars through July 2026 don't change how entitlement is worked out. If Parent 1 works part-time, your figure is lower.

Is there a minimum number of hours?

Not from the scheme. Possibly from the centre. This is the single most confusing part of the system, and centres give parents contradictory answers about it.

The official Jobsplus brochure is explicit:

“You are entitled to book any amount of hours that does not exceed the total amount you are entitled to… The scheme does not impose a minimum number of booked hours per month.”

Free Childcare Scheme brochure, Jobsplus — question 17

So if a centre tells you the government requires a minimum, that isn't right. But many centres genuinely do set their own minimum — a floor of so many hours or days a week — as their own commercial policy. Jobsplus has acknowledged this publicly, referring to “minimum hours policies imposed by centres” (Jobsplus, reported 11 July 2026).

Why centres do it

Because centres are paid for the hours you book, not the hours your child actually attends. Their income for your place is largely fixed at the moment you book, which is why a child booked for very few hours is unattractive to them. That's a business decision by the centre, and a perfectly legal one — it just isn't a government rule, and it varies from centre to centre.

Don't over-book to meet a minimum

This matters. The brochure warns that “if you book more hours than you intend to utilise, the overbooked hours will be deducted from your yearly absence entitlement” — and that entitlement is capped at 25% of your booked hours per year. Booking hours you won't use to satisfy a centre's minimum can quietly burn through the allowance you'd want for genuine illness.

What to ask

Ask the question in a way that separates the two things:

• “What is your centre's minimum booking — hours or days per week?”
• “What happens to my place if I later reduce my hours?”
• “Am I charged for booked hours my child doesn't attend?”

If a centre says a minimum is a government requirement, it's worth checking with the Free Childcare Scheme office directly.

What can a centre still charge me?

Centres cannot charge you beyond what government pays for your covered hours, but they may charge a reasonable one-off registration fee, and for food. This catches a lot of parents out, which is why we ask every centre to publish its fees.

Which centres are on the scheme?

204 of the centres listed here are on the scheme.

Browse centres on the scheme →

Summarised from the official Free Childcare Scheme documentation. childcare.mt is independent and not affiliated with Jobsplus or any government body — always confirm your own entitlement with the scheme directly.