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FamilyBoost is a new childcare payment available to eligible households with children aged 5 and under, to help with the costs of early childhood education. Inland Revenue will closely monitor and report on the ongoing results of Family Boost.

Parents and caregivers can claim back up to 25% of their fees, or a maximum of $975 every 3-months. This maximum payment slowly reduces for families with incomes over $35,000 but under $45,000 per quarter. Families with incomes over $45,000 per quarter are not eligible.

Find out more about FamilyBoost payments.

Can you get FamilyBoost?

Data is collected throughout the quarter and will be updated a minimum of two months post the end of each quarter. Information will also be included in our annual reports for 2024-25 onwards.

Timeline for delivery of FamilyBoost

May 2024

  • Enabling legislation passed

1 July 2024

  • Legislation was enacted

September 2024

  • Registrations for FamilyBoost open

October 2024

  • Claims open for the first quarter (1 July-30 September 2024) and payments are made to eligible households

Funded cost

This table shows the funded cost for Inland Revenue, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social Development for 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26, and 2027-28.

2023-24 ($m) 2024-25 ($m) 2025-26 ($m) 2026-27 ($m) 2027-28 ($m)
Inland Revenue - administration cost $13.900 $11.100 $9.100 $9.100
Ministry of Education - administration cost   $0.175 $0.100 $0.100 $0.100
Ministry of Social Development - administration cost $0.242 $1.604 $1.322 $1.322 $1.322
Forecast amount paid to eligible households $131.000* $171.000 $167.000 $165.000

Note:

  • FamilyBoost is integrated with the delivery of IR main’s products. Given its relatively small size compared to tax, a breakdown of actual costs is not possible.
  • *Data has been updated based on the Budget Economic and Fiscal Update 2025.

Indicators of performance

The following tables track the performance indicators for FamilyBoost.

Registrations

This table shows the registrations made for the financial year-to-date per quarter for the 2024-25 financial year.

Performance indicator Q1 (Jul-Sep 2024) Q2 (Oct-Dec 2024) Q3 (Jan-Mar 2025) Q4 (Apr-Jun 2025)
Registrations received 23,165* 59,990 69,680
Registrations accepted 22,990* 59,370 68,990
Registrations declined 140* 490 670

*Registrations received from 16 September to 30 September 2024.

Note:

  • The data in this table shows point-in-time for registrations received during each quarter for 2024-25 financial year.
  • Totals may not equal the sum of the rows due to rounding.

Claims

Note: Claims for FamilyBoost opened on 1 October 2024; reporting on claims commenced from Q2 2024-25.

This table shows claims made per quarter for the 2024-25 financial year.

Performance indicator Q1 (Jul-Sep 2024) Q2 (Oct-Dec 2024) Q3 (Jan-Mar 2025) Q4 (Apr-Jun 2025)
Total claims received N/A 58,320 114,160
Households claiming N/A 51,970 61,640
Total amount paid N/A $16.026m $32.139m
Claims paid N/A 42,410 87,370
Households paid N/A 42,410 51,680
Claims declined N/A 10,880 20,970

Notes:

  • The data in this table shows point-in-time for claims received during the financial year-to-date for each quarter for 2024-25.
  • Totals may not equal the sum of the rows due to rounding.

Claims by period

This table shows the claims received for the financial year-to-date for each claim period.

Performance indicator Q1 (Jul-Sep 2024) claim period Q2 (Oct-Dec 2024) claim period Q3 (Jan-Mar 2025) claim period Q4 (Apr-Jun 2025) claim period
Claims received  61, 870  52,290 
Amount paid $17.047m  $15.091m 
Claims paid 45,300 42,070

Note:

  • The data in this table shows point-in-time for claims received during the financial year-to-date for each claim period for 2024-25.
  • Data will change due to being updated each reporting period.
  • Totals may not equal the sum of the rows due to rounding.

Data updated as at 31 March 2025.

Last updated: 09 Jul 2025
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