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Fresh start for childminding

11 mins read Early Years Childminding
Childminders provide essential childcare for many families, but numbers continue to fall. How can services successfully recruit and support more childminders and help reverse the decline?
A DfE consultation puts forward plans on how the government can aid the recruitment and retention of childminders. Picture: Zamrnuti Tonovi/Adobe Stock
A DfE consultation puts forward plans on how the government can aid the recruitment and retention of childminders. Picture: Zamrnuti Tonovi/Adobe Stock

There has been a steady decline in the number of childminders in recent years, with many more leaving the profession in the past year alone.

The childcare sector as a whole has struggled with recruitment and retention, but childminder numbers have dropped at a faster rate than any other type of early years provider.

The most recent data from Ofsted shows there were 27,000 childminders registered with Ofsted as of August 2023 – down 2,580 on the previous year.

Research by the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (Pacey) shows a multitude of reasons for leaving the profession including loneliness and isolation, poor pay and underfunding, and lack of support and training.

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