Childminders go online with smartphones
Katy Morton
Monday, August 8, 2011
The number of childminders accessing the internet via their mobile phone has quadrupled in the past year, according to the National Childminding Association's membership survey.
The survey indicates that 21 per cent of childminders are using their mobile phone to connect to the internet. This is four times the figure from last year's survey.
A further 70 per cent of childminders use a laptop computer, and 55 per cent a home PC, to go online.
The findings come in the same week as new research by media regulator Ofcom reveals that more than a quarter of adults now own a smartphone.
According to the NCMA's survey, 82 per cent of childminders use the internet for activities relating to their business, with 88 per cent going online to find resources to use with the children they care for, and a third using the internet to keep themselves up to date with developments in childcare policy.
The figures also show that 51 per cent of NCMA's members hold a childcare qualification at Level 3 or higher.
Of those who care for threeand four-year-olds, 17 per cent are offering the free entitlement; 11 per cent offer free places for two-year-olds. One in five childminders cares for disabled children or those with special educational needs.
The typical NCMA member is 35 to 44 years old, has been childminding for more than five years and looks after six children. The average fee they charge is £3.90 an hour, up from £3.84 in 2010.
NCMA's nanny members were also included in the survey - 30 per cent of them think demand for their services has increased over the past year.
The full findings from the NCMA's member survey are expected later this month.
