Scottish Household Survey 2021 - telephone survey: key findings

10. Childcare

The childcare results presented focus mainly on households with a child aged two to five years old and not yet at school. However, the results on household childcare costs and affordability include responses from all households with at least one child aged zero to eleven years old.

The results of the 2021 Scottish Household Survey are comparable with the results from the 2020 survey (but not to previous years). However, the number of responses to childcare questions was very low in 2020, and so large percentage differences between the years may be the result of normal variation. Any comparisons between the two years should therefore be treated with caution.

Types of childcare

There are many types of childcare available in Scotland, including:

• Local authority nursery or pre-school
• Private nursery or pre-school
• Third sector nursery or pre-school
• Childminder
• Playgroup
• Family centre
• A relative or friend

Some parents/carers choose to use one of the above types of childcare, or a mix of two or more types. Others choose to use no childcare. Overall, 86% of households with a child aged two- to five-years-old not yet at school used at least one of the above types of childcare (Table 10.1).

In 2021, the most common forms of childcare used were a local authority nursery and a private nursery, used by 40% and 34% of households respectively. A further 17% used a relative or friend for childcare, and 10% used a childminder. 14% of households used no childcare.

Nurseries were the most commonly used type of childcare for households with a child aged four- or five-years-old (and not at school), with 63% using a local authority nursery, 26% using a private nursery, and 3% using a third sector nursery (Table 10.2). A child may attend one or more types of nursery. Use of a local authority nursery was lower among households with a three-year-old (43%) or two-year-old (15%). This difference by age is likely to be due to the eligibility criteria for accessing government-funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC). Funded ELC can be accessed through local authority childcare providers, some private and voluntary providers, and some childminders. The statutory entitlement to funded ELC begins the term after the child's third birthday, although some local authorities offer funded provision earlier, for example, from the child's third birthday. Around a quarter of two-year-olds are also eligible for funded ELC as they meet certain criteria and retain this eligibility until their three-year-old eligibility begins.

Use of local authority nurseries generally decreased as area deprivation, as defined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), decreased. Half (51%) of households in the 20% most deprived areas used a local authority nursery, compared with less than a third (29%) in the 20% least deprived areas (Table 10.3). Private nursery use increased as area deprivation decreased, with less than a quarter (23%) using a private nursery in the 20% most deprived areas compared with 44% in the 20% least deprived areas. Use of a relative or friend for childcare increased as area deprivation decreased. A quarter (25%) of households in the 20% least deprived areas used this form of childcare, compared with 6% in the 20% most deprived areas.

Hours of childcare used

During term-time, 44% of households that used some form of childcare used between 21 and 30 hours of childcare per week (Table 10.7), the same proportion as in 2020. A further 22% used between 11 and 20 hours, with 21% using more than 30 hours per week. Households with a two-year-old were more likely to use between 1 and 10 hours per week (18%) than households with a three-year-old (7%), or a four- or five-year-old (5%) (Table 10.8).

During school holidays, 32% of households used no or less than one hour of childcare per week. 28% of households used between 21 and 30 hours, with a further 15% using between 11 and 20 hours, and 14% using more than 30 hours per week (Table 10.10).

Main reasons for using childcare

The most common reason given for using childcare was so that parents/carers can work (75%), and the second most common reason was for their child's social development (37%) (respondents could choose more than one reason) (Table 10.13). These were also the most common reasons for using childcare in 2020. A quarter (25%) of households used childcare for their child's learning and language development, broadly the same proportion as in 2020 (23%), but this varied depending on the age of the child. Almost a third (31%) of households with a three-, four- or five-year-old used childcare for this reason, compared with 11% of households with a two-year-old (Table 10.14).

16% of households said that they used childcare to help prepare their child for school, but this also varied depending on the age of the child. Around a quarter (26%) of households with a four- or five-year-old stated this reason, compared with only 5% of households with a two-year-old (Table 10.14).

For households with a two-year-old, the most common reasons for using childcare were so that the parent or carer could work (79%), and for their child's social development (29%) (Table 10.14).

Use of funded childcare

As highlighted above, all three- and four-year-olds, and an estimated 25% of two-year-olds, are entitled to ELC that is funded by the Scottish Government. The statutory entitlement begins the term after the child's third birthday, although some local authorities will start provision from the date the child turns three. Two-year-olds are eligible for funded ELC if they meet certain criteria and they remain eligible even if circumstances change and they no longer meet the two-year-old eligibility. Some children may also receive ELC funded at the local authority's discretion. Funded ELC reported on here is a combination of both types. From August 2021, the statutory entitlement was 1,140 hours per year. Prior to this children were entitled to 600 hours per year, but may have been offered or provided with more at the discretion of the local authority. The increase to 1,140 hours was due to occur in August 2020, but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, many local authorities rolled out the expanded provision as planned and so may have been offering the full entitlement prior to August 2021.

Overall, 60% of households said that their child was entitled to funded ELC (Table 10.16), but this varied greatly by age. Only 16% of households with a two-year-old stated that their child was entitled to this, compared with 79% of households with a three-year-old and 82% of those with a four- or five-year-old (not yet at school). A small proportion of households (5%) did not know whether their child was entitled to this childcare.

Of those entitled to funded ELC, 91% said that they received it during term-time and 93% said that they received it during the school holidays (Table 10.17, Table 10.22). During term-time, around half (54%) used between 21 and 30 hours per week, with a further 31% using between 11 and 20 hours per week (Table 10.18). Approximately half (48%) used these hours across five or more days, with around a quarter (26%) using them across three days and 12% across one or two days (Table 10.20).

During school holidays, half of those receiving funded ELC (50%) used between 21 and 30 hours, with another quarter (26%) using between 11 and 20 hours per week (Table 10.23). 37% used these hours across five or more days, with 31% using them across three days and 20% across one or two days (Table 10.24).

Across the full year, 44% of households receiving funded ELC used the full entitlement of 1,140 hours, with 45% using less than this (Table 10.21). The remainder did not know how many hours they used annually.

Views on funded ELC

95% of households using funded ELC were either very satisfied or fairly satisfied with it (Table 10.25), broadly the same as in 2020 (97%). Only 1% of households were dissatisfied with the funded ELC they received.

When asked about issues in using funded ELC, the most common issues noted were not enough funded hours to meet needs (10% of respondents), lack of flexibility in the days or times offered (10%), and lack of provision in the school holidays (6%) (respondents were able to select more than one issue) (Table 10.26). The proportion of households that noted a lack of flexibility in the days or times offered was related to area deprivation, with 16% of households in the 60% least deprived areas highlighting this, compared with 2% of households in the 40% most deprived areas. However, almost three quarters (72%) of households stated that they did not have problems with funded ELC.

Parents/carers were also asked whether they agreed with the following statements regarding their funded childcare provider: "They give me good ideas for ways to help my child learn" and "They communicate with me regularly about my child's progress". The majority of households (83% and 92% respectively) stated that they either strongly agreed or tended to agree with these statements (Table 10.28, Table 10.29). 7% either tended to disagree or strongly disagreed with the first statement, and 5% tended to disagree or strongly disagreed with the second.

Childcare costs for one pre-school child aged 2+

This section presents the amount spent on childcare per month, by households who have a child aged between two and five years old that is not yet at school, for that child only. It does not cover childcare costs for any other children in the household, even if there are other children within that age group.

During term time, the majority (57%) of households stated that all the childcare they used was free or funded by the local authority/Scottish Government (Table 10.31). This is broadly the same as in 2020, when 59% of households said that all childcare was free or funded. A further 29% spent less than 10% of their average monthly income on childcare (30% in 2020), with 11% spending between 10 and 20% of their income (9% in 2020).

During the school holidays, a smaller proportion of households (44%) stated that all childcare was free or funded (Table 10.32). A further 35% spent less than 10% of their average monthly income, with 15% spending between 10 and 20%. This is again broadly similar to 2020 figures.

Across the full year, the majority of households (56%) stated that all childcare was free or funded (Table 10.30), the same proportion as in 2020. Almost a quarter (24%) spent between £1,000 and £5,000 on childcare annually, again the same proportion as 2020. A further 12% spent between £5,000 and £10,000 annually, broadly the same as in 2020 (13%). A small proportion of households spent less than £1,000 annually (4%) or more than £10,000 annually (3%).

Household childcare costs

This section presents costs for all children aged up to eleven years old.

During school term time, 71% of households had no childcare costs (Table 10.34). Around a fifth of households (22%) spent less than 10% of their average monthly income on childcare, with 6% spending between 10 and 20%. Equivalent information on costs for the full household is not available for 2020 and so no annual comparisons can be made.

During school holidays, around three quarters (77%) of households stated that they had no childcare costs, with almost all other households (22%) spending less than 10% of their average monthly income (Table 10.35).

When asked if they used salary sacrifice childcare vouchers, tax-free childcare, tax-credits, universal credit, or student support to pay for childcare, almost half of households (45%) said that they did not (Table 10.33). A quarter (25%) used salary sacrifice childcare vouchers, and a further 22% used tax-free childcare.

Affordability of childcare

All households with at least one child aged up to eleven years old were asked how easy or difficult they found it to afford childcare.

More than half said that they found it easy (15%) or very easy (44%) to afford childcare, with a further quarter (25%) stating they found it neither easy nor difficult (Table 10.37). This is broadly the same as in 2020, when 19% stated that they found it easy and 42% very easy to afford childcare, with 22% finding it neither easy nor difficult. However, 6% of households said that they found it difficult to afford childcare, and 3% found it very difficult. This is again broadly the same as in 2020, when 3% stated that they found it difficult to afford childcare, and 4% found it very difficult.