To increase parental employment and to reduce disadvantage from an early age successive governments have sought to support parents to use formal childcare. Despite the expansion of the Government's free early education offer and increased investment in financial support for childcare costs, many parents still cite childcare as a barrier to work and many children are not receiving quality early years education. From bureau evidence Citizens Advice could see that parents were struggling with the interactions between benefits systems, job seeking support, flexible employment requirements and childcare provision itself. In light of this we decided to research the detail of how childcare provision actually works on the ground. Our bureaux surveyed 400 different childcare providers across England which were broadly representative of the different types of childcare providers, and different levels of quality and deprivation found. We found that parents face many practical barriers when trying to find and use suitable and affordable childcare. The options available to low income families and those who work evening, weekends or unreliable hours were considerably narrow and often involved compromising on quality. We found that: using childcare involved large upfront costs with 90 per cent of providers requiring payment in advance and 40 per cent requiring a deposit of up to 150 [pounds]; there was limited flexibility to change childcare arrangements with nearly two thirds of providers requiring a month or more notice to make any changes; higher quality providers were more likely to require monthly payments and were less likely to offer flexibility. Through interviews with childcare providers we have also found that unless providers take on considerable risks to their businesses or increase the cost of childcare there is little room for them to improve these practices. However benefits systems, local authorities and Jobcentre Plus can do more to take into account the childcare realities that parents face. Throughout the report we have looked at the policy implications of our findings and we have set out fourteen recommendations that would improve the way these systems take account of how childcare is delivered. By paying more attention to these practical details we can help parents to overcome the barriers they face when trying to access formal childcare. (author abstract)