There has been a net loss of 800 childminders since the end of December 2018, the previous official figures - 1,300 childminders left the sector, after working in childminding on average for nine years. In the same period up to 31 March, 500 joined - there are currently 39,000 childminders.
Childminder numbers have been declining for several years.
There has been a 19 per cent drop since August 2015, however the number of places offered by childminders has decreased by 7 per cent. This means that individual childminders are each offering a higher number of places, which is 6.5 on average.
However, Ofsted said that the number of childcare places has remained broadly stable since August 2015, due to an increase in the number of places offered at nurseries and pre-schools. On 31 March, there were 1.3 million childcare places offered by providers on the Early Years Register (EYR).
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