Study highlights ‘unsustainable’ fall in the number of childminders

Embargo: for publication after 00.01hrs Wednesday 2nd May 2001 Study highlights ‘unsustainable’ fall in the number of childminders

“I wish the general public would recognise that childminding is a proper job.... The Government could do much to improve childminders' credibility by positive press, and government training courses [which are] universally recognised.” Childminder interviewed for the research.

New research has revealed a significant fall in the number of registered childminders despite the Government’s determination to help working parents by increasing the number of childcare places. Government statistics show a drop from 106,000 registered childminders in England in 1992 to 76,000 in 2000.

The study, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and carried out by London University's Institute of Education, says that reasons for the decline may include:

• changes in the population structure which mean there are fewer parents with young children interested in becoming childminders
• low pay and the poor status of childminding
• more flexible working hours in other types of employment
• increasing regulatory demands and a perceived lack of support from local authorities.

The research, by the Institute’s Thomas Coram Research Unit, shows that registered childminders are the main providers of formal child care (as distinct from relations and friends) while parents are working. Most childminders are women with young children of their own, enabling them to combine paid self-employment with staying at home.

Professor Peter Moss, a co-author of the study, said: “Childminding largely depends on women being prepared to work at home for low wages. The declining number of childminders suggests that the present situation is unsustainable."

A survey during 1999-2000 of more than a thousand childminders in eight English local authorities found that working time averaged 34 hours a week, although a third put in more than 41 hours. The average gross weekly income was £103. Half those interviewed had vacancies and many reported difficulties in filling places.

Childminders expressed a high level of satisfaction, despite these poor working conditions. Yet the low status of the work and the expectation that their childcare experience would carry little recognition in the wider labour market were seen as barriers to a career in childminding.

Interviews with childminders and parents who used their services identified a commonly-shared view that childminding should be primarily motivated by a desire to work with children, rather than earning money. A tension existed between the commitment that most childminders felt towards childcare and wanting to earn a reasonable income. Although considering themselves low paid, they found it difficult to increase their fees.

The survey found a strong level of commitment among childminders. More than half saw childminding as their chosen career or as a stepping stone to other work with children. Childminders also viewed themselves as professional childcare workers. Three-quarters had undertaken some kind of non-qualification training that related to their work, although only a third thought it very important to attend training courses.

Note to Editors

Who cares? Childminding in the 1990s by Ann Mooney, Abigail Knight, Peter Moss and Charlie Owen is published for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation by the Family Policy Studies Centre, and available from York Publishing Services, 64 Hallfield Road, Layerthorpe, York YO31 7ZQ (01904 430033) price £13.95 plus £2 p&p. 

A summary of findings is available here.

The Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU), carries out research into issues involving children and young people both within and outside their families. The Institute of Education is a college of the University of London, specialising in teaching and research in all aspects of education and education-related fields.

For further information, contact:

Thomas Coram Research Unit 020-7612 6957

Helen Green (Institute of Education Press Officer) 020-7612 6459
h.green@ioe.ac.uk

(Issued by David Utting, JRF Head of Media Relations, 020-7278 9665/ david.utting@jrf.org.uk)