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The scheme, first reported by The Guardian, is believed to include 30 hours a week of childcare for parents in England with children in that age group.

You could also see increased funding for the current three-year-old child care program.

The move would come amid ongoing concerns about the cost of childcare, amid broader cost-of-living challenges and inflationary pressures.

While full details of any expansion would be included in Wednesday’s Budget, such a move would be in line with the Chancellor’s hopes of getting more people back into the workplace as part of a broader offer to boost growth.

Pressed on the issue of childcare provision over the weekend, Mr Hunt said: “We would like to help everyone. It is expensive to do. You can’t always do everything at once.

But the chancellor has come under pressure in recent weeks to act on childcare, which is considered some of the most expensive in the world.

Labor has vowed to completely reform Britain’s childcare system, calling it “broken”.

Childcare providers in England have raised concerns about insufficient funding, with complaints about a lack of investment from the government.

Currently, all three- and four-year-old families qualify for 15 hours of free child care per week, for 38 weeks.

Households can qualify for 30 hours of free childcare per week if parents earn the equivalent of 16 hours per week at the national minimum or living wage.

Neil Leitch, executive director of the Early Years Alliance, said that “the devil was in the details” of any plan.

“We know from hard experience that what may sound like an impressive investment in theory can end up being wholly inadequate in practice, so understanding exactly how this announcement will translate into changes to the hourly funding rate, especially in light of the extension of 30 hours. offer to one and two-year-old children will be key to understanding the impact on the sector, ”he said.

James Bowen, policy director for the nursery and school leaders union NAHT, said: “While we’ll have to look closely at the details, if the government increases hourly funding rates for early childhood providers, that will be good news.

“We know that the funding environments they currently receive from the government are woefully inadequate and many providers simply cannot afford to operate at those levels.”

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said many would welcome any announcement.

But he warned on Twitter that “the whole system is enormously complex.”

“As universal support has been expanded, targeted support for children most in need has been reduced,” he wrote.