With the General Election just days away, it's encouraging to see within the main politial parties' manifestos that childcare is a critical issue with huge potential to sway voters, and featured prominently.
The Conservative manifesto doubled down on its commitment to “deliver the largest ever expansion of childcare in history”. Meanwhile, Labour confirmed that they would carry out the current plans to offer 30 hours of free childcare a week to parents of children aged nine months and over, starting next year.
This focus on the sector is welcome; our childcare crisis is the result of long-standing neglect. However, there is a glaring oversight in both the Labour and Conservative manifestos: childminders. This vital cohort of early years staff is mentioned only once in the Conservative manifesto and not at all in Labour's.
Unfortunately, this is nothing new. Childminders have consistently been overlooked by regulators and decision-makers for decades. When early years have garnered attention, it has disproportionately focused on traditional nursery settings. And this omission has long-term implications if the next Government is to tackle the recruitment crisis facing the whole early years market.
The facts are stark: our nurseries are struggling with escalating costs and a recruitment crisis, while the number of childminders registered with Ofsted has plummeted by over 30,000 in the past decade. To remedy this and meet growing demand driven by the increase in funded hours, it’s estimated that we need 40,000 additional early years workers by September 2025. Yet neither party offers a clear strategy on how they would achieve this.
Getting the sector back on its feet will require a new approach and any government serious about reform must recognise that childminders are a vital piece of this puzzle.
They provide flexibility for parents and are, on average, 12 per cent cheaper than nurseries. They offer lower overhead costs and higher hourly income for practitioners.
There is also academic evidence that smaller childminding settings, which mimic family homes, are better for younger children’s development than larger institutions.
But despite their huge value, childminders continue to be overlooked and under-supported. Left to drift, numbers in the UK have dropped like a stone - a picture not repeated on mainland Europe. For instance, France has around ten times as many childminders as England.
But there is hope. At tiney, for example, our community of childminders is steadily growing - the only part of the early years market to be doing so. We now rank in size equivalent to the 7th largest nursery chain in the UK. Our community is made up of people from all walks of life.
Many joined us from nursery settings, but over half of our new childminders have no prior experience in early years education. Among them are former lawyers, retail managers, and secondary school teachers. Through our tech-led, people-first approach we’re proving that expanding the childcare workforce is achievable if you provide the right tools, training, and support.
We know for a fact there are thousands more potential childminders across the country, ready to step up to provide the brilliant early years education our children need and that parents are clamouring for.
If the next government is serious about fixing our childcare crisis, it must take note and not forget about childminder recruiting and retention. It’s an invaluable, vital part of the early years community - one which must be nourished if we are to achieve real, lasting change.
