Childminding workforce trends qualitative research report

2. Changing profile of the childminding workforce in Scotland

In order to set the context for the remainder of this report, which focuses on views and experiences of childminding as a profession, this chapter summarises recent data on the profile of the childminding workforce in Scotland. The most recent data on the profile of the childminding workforce shows that:

• The age profile of the childminding workforce is as follows: under 25 (0.2%), 25 to 35 (12.2%), 36 to 45 (29.5%), 46 to 55 (33.7%) and over 55 (24.3%).^[24] In 2020, the median age of a childminder was 48 years-old, compared with a mean age of 36 across day care of children services.^[25]
• The vast majority of childminders in Scotland are female. As at 31 December 2020, there were 37 male childminders (0.8% of the workforce).^[26] This is in line with the wider childcare workforce – for example, an estimated 96% of those working in day care of children services in 2020 were female.^[27]
• Most childminders identify as White (80.3%). While ethnicity was not known for 18% of the workforce, 0.1% identified as being from Mixed or Multiple Ethnic groups, 0.7% as Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British, 0.4% as African, Caribbean or Black, and 0.1% as from another Ethnic group.^[28]
• Just under half of childminders reported working more than 40 hours a week (34% work 40 to 49 hours and 11% work 50 or more).^[29] Data from the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) indicates that childminders report longer average (median) hours compared with Day Care of Children (DCC) workers (37.5 hours per week, compared with 35 for DCC staff). ^{30 [31]}
• Data from the SSSC suggests that 1% of childminders have a disability (compared to 2% of day care of children workers).

According SCMA's 2020 survey of Scottish childminders, just under half (49%) of respondents became a childminder when they were between 30 and 39 years old.^[32] Research carried out in England and Wales by Campbell-Barr et al in 2019 and 2020 similarly found that over 57% of new childminders were between 31 and 40 years old.^[33] Childminders, therefore, tend to have had previous careers before joining the workforce: SCMA data shows 17% had worked in health and 13% had worked in a nursery.^[34] Research published in 2015 found that, in England, only 4% had not been in the labour market before becoming a childminder; 36% had been in early education or childcare and 21% in clerical work.^[35]

Table 2.1 shows that the decrease in the number of childminding services from 2014 to 2019 was not matched by an equivalent decrease in the number of children registered with a childminder – there has been a 22% decline in the number of childminding services, compared with only a 9% decline in the number of children registered. The decrease in the number of childminders over this period did not, therefore, appear to reflect an equivalent decrease in the need for childminding services. The sharp decrease in the number of children registered with a childminder from 2019 to 2020 is likely to reflect the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, with large numbers of parents working from home and many furloughed during 2020. It is difficult to predict how these figures will change now the furlough scheme has ended and parents are beginning to move back to work, which may now include much more 'hybrid-working', combining home and office work.^[36]

Table 2.2 shows the variation in availability of childminders between urban and rural areas. Unsurprisingly, given the distribution of the Scottish population, there are more childminding services in urban areas (2,797 in large urban or other urban areas) than in rural areas (1,598, including 543 in accessible small towns, 190 in remote small towns, 633 in accessible rural and 232 in remote rural areas). All types of areas saw a decrease in the number of childminding services from 2014 to 2020, with the decrease steepest in accessible small towns.

Table 2.3 highlights the gap in the availability of childminding services between more and less deprived areas. There are far more childminding services in less deprived areas of Scotland (1,124 in SIMD 4 and 1,078 in SIMD 5) than in the most deprived areas (505 in SIMD 1). However, the level of provision has decreased more steeply in less deprived areas in recent years – by 24% in the least deprived quintile, compared with 11% in the most deprived areas.

The number of registered childminders also varies substantially by local authority, as might be expected. In 2020, the most recent year for which figures were available, numbers ranged from 372 services in Fife to 9 in Shetland (Table 2.4). Numbers of registered childminding services had fallen in 31 out of 32 Scottish local authorities.