Nursery World - Childminder numbers fall by 3 per cent in three months

Early years organisation PACEY has commissioned research into the decline in childminding and the reasons for it, as the latest Ofsted statistics show a fall of 1,000 childminders in a three-month period.

Meanwhile the number of nurseries was down by around 50 during the same time period.

The figures also show that 95 per cent of providers on the Early Years Register are judged good or outstanding.

The number of new childminders joining the sector was also much lower between 31 August and December 2018 than it has been over the same time period during the previous three years.

For example, in 2017 there were 1,400 new childminders that joined between August and December, double the number for the same period in 2018 (700).

The Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) is so concerned that it has commissioned the Plymouth Institute of Education at the University of Plymouth to identify what is causing the fall in numbers in England and Wales and possible solutions.

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