This Official Statistics release provides the main findings of the 2023 wave in the Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents series.
The survey is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and managed by Ipsos. It aims to provide information to help monitor the progress of policies and public attitudes in the area of childcare and early years education.
The 2023 survey reports the findings of interviews, conducted between May 2023 and February 2024, with a nationally representative sample of 5,715 parents with children aged 0 to 14 living in England. Interviews are primarily carried out face-to-face.
For ease of interpretation, data from the 2023 survey wave is compared with, in most instances, the most recently comparable survey wave, which varies depending on the specific data under analysis. In several instances longer-term trends have been described where data from 2023 is compared with earlier survey waves.
Where differences are commented upon, e.g. as increases or decreases, or differences between sub-groups, these differences are statistically significant. Where differences are not statistically significant, they are described as being ‘in line with’ or ‘unchanged from’ previous figures.
More detailed findings can be found in the Accompanying Tables (referenced throughout).
Defining childcare
The study uses a very inclusive definition of childcare and early years provision. Parents were asked to include any time that the child was not with a resident parent, or a resident parent’s current (or ex-) husband, wife, or partner.
Formal providers: include nursery schools, nursery classes, reception classes, special day schools, day nurseries, playgroups, childminders, nannies or au-pairs, baby-sitters, breakfast clubs, after-school clubs and holiday clubs.
Informal providers: include grandparents, older brothers/sisters, other relatives, friends or neighbours.
Methodological change to the definition of formal childcare
Prior to the 2023 survey wave, ‘after school clubs and activities’ were grouped and regarded as ‘formal providers’ in the list of childcare providers that is shown to respondents during the survey interview and for reporting purposes. For 2023, the reference to ‘activities’ was removed, so that only ‘after school clubs’ are considered formal providers of childcare. This change was made to distinguish between formal after school clubs and informal activities that children may participate in out of school hours to aid analyses and reporting for those interested in the provision of wraparound childcare.
A new provider code “Provider of sport, art, leisure, tuition or religious activities” was also added to the list of provider types, to capture such activities that a child may participate in out of school hours (during the week, after school or at the weekend). This new code replaces a former code labelled as “Leisure/sport” that was used previously in reporting.
The introduction of these changes this wave has led to a decrease in the proportion of parents reporting using any providers and formal providers of childcare compared to 2022, particularly for children aged between 8 and 14 years.
The addition of the new provider code on the showcard, specifically including examples of childcare providers relating to ‘sport, art, leisure, tuition or religious activities’ has led to an increase in the proportion of parents choosing this code compared to those choosing ‘other childcare provider’ to classify these activities as in previous waves. This is at the overall level and for parents of children aged between 8 and 14 years specifically.
On 15 March 2023, just before fieldwork started, the previous government announced as part of the Spring Budget 2023 that from April 2024 new childcare entitlements for children aged 9 months to 3 years with eligible working parents would start to be rolled out in stages. Parents were asked about their awareness of this new offer in the 2023 survey
34%
This is in line with 2022 (32%)
Proportion of parents of children aged 0 to 4 years only who found it difficult or very difficult to meet their childcare costs
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Tables to accompany the findings from the 2023 Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents
Further detail of how the Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents complies with the the Code of Practice for Statistics
This section discusses the use of childcare, both formal and informal childcare and holiday childcare, among families and among children. The section also comprises reasons for using and for not using childcare, along with views on local childcare provision and how it could be improved.
Families with children aged 0 to 4 only were more likely to use childcare than families with older children.
From Figure 1.1 below:
The longer-term trends in use of childcare among families with children aged 0 to 4 only show that between 2012 and 2019, the percentage of families using any form of childcare remained stable, but from 2021 onwards use began to decline. In 2019, 85% of families with children aged 0 to 4 used some form of childcare, but by 2022 it had declined to 81% and use remained unchanged at 81% in 2023 (Figure 1.1).
Among children, there were differences in the use of childcare by age of the children, with younger children being more likely to receive childcare compared to their older counterparts.
From Accompanying Table 1.8:
Families with children aged 0 to 4 years only were much more likely to use formal childcare than families which only contained children aged 5 to 14 years. Seven in ten (71%) families containing 0 to 4 year olds only had used formal childcare, unchanged from 2022 (Figure 1.1 above) but among families with children aged 5 to 14 years only, just under two in five (38%) had used formal childcare, which was fall from 49% in 2022 (Figure 1.2 above). These findings are likely to be attributed – at least in part - to the change in the definition of formal childcare described earlier.
There were differences in receipt of formal childcare by the age of the children. Receipt of formal childcare was highest among younger children, being received by a majority (63%) of children aged 0 to 4 years, which is in line with 2022 (62%) (Figure 1.3 below). This is compared to around a third (32%) of children aged 5 to 14 years (Accompanying Table 1.8).
Among children receiving formal childcare, younger children spent more time in childcare than did their older counterparts. From Accompanying Table 1.10:
Children aged 0 to 4 years received formal childcare from a range of providers, principally day nurseries (23%, in line with 2022, 21%), nursery schools (11%, again in line with 2022, 12%), and reception classes (10%, a fall from 2022, 12%) (Accompanying Table 1.8). Those aged 5 to 11 years most often received formal childcare from after-school clubs (25% for 5-7s, 24% for 8-11s) but also from breakfast clubs (12% for 5-7s and 8% for 8-11s). Older children received the great majority of their formal childcare from after-school clubs (12% among children aged 12 to 14 years) (Accompanying Table 1.8).
Long-term trends in formal childcare use among families with children aged 0 to 4 only, show that formal childcare use has remained stable between 2010 and 2023 with use at around the 69% to 71% mark. However, a slightly different trend in formal childcare use was seen among children aged 0 to 4 years than was seen among families containing children aged 0 to 4 years only.
Overall, since 2010 there has been a gradual increase in formal childcare use among children aged 0 to 4 years. The proportion of children aged 0 to 4 years that received formal childcare in 2010 to 2011 was 60%, which rose to 64% in 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021 formal childcare use declined to 59%, but since then has risen again to 63% in 2023.
The characteristics associated with the likelihood of children aged between 0 and 4 years receiving formal childcare included:
The family structure and work status:
[1] The deprivation levels are defined by the Index of Multiple Deprivation in England and are divided into five quintiles ranging from the most deprived (1st quintile) to the least deprived (5th quintile).
Informal childcare use varied among the different ages of children. Children aged 0 to 4 years were more likely to receive informal childcare than older children. From Accompanying Table 1.8, the proportion of children receiving informal childcare was:
All of these proportions were in line with 2022. However they have not returned to pre Covid pandemic levels.
Children aged 0 to 4 received more hours per week in informal childcare than older children (Accompanying Table 1.10):
The number of hours spent in informal childcare for all children was similar to 2022 (Accompanying Table 1.10):
Around a quarter of children aged 0 to 4 received informal childcare from grandparents (26%), in line with 2022 (24%). The proportions of older children receiving informal care from grandparents decreased with the age of the children, with just under a fifth (18%) of children aged 5 to 7 receiving this care, falling to 16% for children aged 8 to 11 and 8% for children aged 12 to 14. (Accompanying Table 1.8)
All families with children aged 4 to 14 were asked about their use of childcare during the school holidays. Almost two in five (38%) families used any childcare during school holidays, a slight decrease from 2022 (41%). Just over one in five (22%) families used formal childcare during school holidays, unchanged since 2022, and just over one in five (22%) used informal childcare, in line with 2022 (24%) (Figure 1.6 below).
There were differences in the use of holiday childcare depending on the age of the child. Younger children were more likely to receive childcare during school holidays than older children (Accompanying Table 7.5), with childcare usage at:
This trend is largely due to younger children also being more likely to receive formal childcare during school holidays than older children (Accompanying Table 7.5), with formal childcare usage at:
Receipt of informal childcare during school holidays also varied by children’s age. Younger children were more likely to receive informal childcare during school holidays than older children (Accompanying Table 7.5), with informal childcare usage at:
Over half (55%) of parents of school-age children (aged 4 to 14 years) who worked during school holidays said it was easy or very easy to arrange childcare during the holiday periods, in line with 2022 (54%). Almost a third (30%) reported that it was difficult or very difficult to arrange childcare during the school holidays, in line with 2022 (25%) (Accompanying Table 7.13).
For parents of children aged 0 to 4 who received childcare (formal or informal) during term-time (Accompanying Table 9.7):
Parents considered a range of factors when choosing a formal childcare provider for their child aged 0 to 4. The most common factors were convenience (e.g. ease of getting to the provider, flexibility or convenient hours and hours that fitted in with the parent(s) working hours) (60%, in line with 57% in 2022), the provider’s reputation (55%, in line with 53% in 2022), and concerns relating to the kind of care given (also 55%, in line with 52% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 6.1).
Parents of children aged 5 to 14 were most likely to receive childcare for child-related reasons (67%) (in line with 64% in 2022), followed by economic reasons (57%, in line with 56% in 2022), with reasons relating to parental time again being the least common (15%, also in line with 14% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 10.3).
Turning to the factors parents considered when choosing a formal childcare provider for their child aged 5 to 14, the most common reasons were convenience (55%, in line with 51% in 2022), concerns relating to the kind of care given (42%, a rise from 35% in 2022) and the provider’s reputation (38%, a fall from 44% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 6.1).
Parents who had not used any childcare in the past year (neither formal nor informal) tended not to do so out of choice, rather than due to constraints.
Over half (55%) of parents who were not using childcare said this was because they would rather look after their child(ren) themselves (in line with 62% in 2022), and this did not differ by age of the children in the household. Just over one in ten (12%) parents who were not using childcare said it was because they could not afford childcare, a rise from 2022 (10%). (See Table 1.7 below)
There were some differences by the age of the children in the family:
Families containing children aged 0 to 4 only were more likely to say that they hadn’t used childcare because they could not afford it (18%), than families containing children aged 5 to 14 only (11%) (Accompanying Table 5.3).
Families with children aged 0 to 4 only were also more likely to say that they had not used childcare because they couldn’t find a childcare place as local providers were full (6%) than families with children aged 5 to 14 only (1%).
Parents were asked what changes to local childcare provision, if any, would be most helpful for making it better suited to their needs.
From Table 1.8 below:
Parents were most keen to see improvements to local childcare provision in the summer holidays and families that only had children aged 5 to 14 were more likely to say this than families that only had children aged 0 to 4 (71%, compared to 45%). Families also wanted to see improvements in local provision during half-term, and families that only had children aged 5 to 14 were also more likely to say this than families that only had children aged 0 to 4 (38% compared to 29%). All of these figures are in line with 2022 (Accompanying Table 5.25).
This section describes the awareness and receipt of government funded childcare in early education and is based only on parents of children aged 0 to 4 years old.
All 3 and 4 year olds in England are entitled to a defined number of hours of free childcare or early education. Some 2 year olds are also eligible to access a defined number of hours of free childcare or early education - for example if their parent or guardian receives certain benefits, or they have a statement of special educational needs [1].
All 3 and 4 year olds, and eligible 2 year olds, are entitled to 570 hours of funded early education or childcare per year. This is usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year.
Since September 2017, the funded childcare entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds increased to 30 hours a week for working parents that meet the eligibility criteria. Parents can usually get 30 hours of funded childcare if they (and their partner, if they have one) are in work (or getting parental leave, sick leave or annual leave), and are earning at least the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week. Parents can also receive 30 hours free childcare if they are claiming Universal Credit, tax credits, childcare vouchers or Tax-Free Childcare.
On 15 March 2023, plans were announced that from April 2024 new childcare entitlements for children aged 9 months to 3 years with eligible working parents would start to be rolled out in stages, as follows:
i) From April 2024, working parents of children aged between 24 months and 36 months were able to get 15 hours funded childcare per week during term time.
ii) From September 2024, this will be extended to include working parents of younger children, so children aged between 9 months and 24 months will also be eligible for 15 hours of funded childcare per week during term time.
iii) By September 2025, all children of working parents aged between 9 months and 36 months will be eligible for an extra 15 hours of funded childcare per week, bringing the total number of funded hours of childcare to 30 hours per week. These funded hours will be available to working families where each parent works and earns the equivalent of 16 hours per week at the National Minimum Wage. To be eligible, each parent must earn below £100,000 per year.
[1] For more information on the eligibility criteria see https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-and-education-for2-to-4-year-olds (opens in a new tab)
Over nine in ten (93%) parents with a child aged 0 to 4 were aware of the universal 15 hours offer available for 3 and 4 year olds, a rise from 91% in 2022 (Accompanying Table 2.2). Awareness levels varied by annual family income: parents earning £45,000 or more per year were most likely to be aware of the scheme (97%), while those earning under £10,000 per year were least likely to be aware (74%) (Table 2.1 below).
Among parents with a child aged 2, around four in five (79%) in 2023 were aware that certain 2 year olds were eligible for some free hours of childcare each week, unchanged from 2022 (Table 2.2 below). There was no difference in awareness of the free hours for 2 year olds by annual family income.
Official statistics from the DfE’s Early Years Census and Schools Census show that in January 2023, an estimated 94% of 3-4 year olds and 74% of eligible 2 year olds benefitted from funded childcare or early education [1].
In 2023, nine in ten (90%) parents using the universal 15 hours offer available for 3 and 4 year olds were satisfied with the way they could use the hours for their child, a fall from 2022 (94%). Almost nine in ten (89%) parents using the 2 year old offer were satisfied with the way they were able to use the hours for their child, in line with 2022 (94%). (Accompanying Table 2.8)
[1] https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5 The Department for Education’s Early Years Census and Schools Census are the official take up figures for funded childcare and early education, so are presented here.
Fieldwork for the 2023 survey took place between May 2023 and February 2024, prior to the expansion of the 30 hours offer for younger children with working parents, which was due to be rolled out in stages from April 2024. Parents were asked about their awareness of this forthcoming offer during the 2023 survey.
Among parents with a child aged 0 to 2, around three in five (61%) were aware of the forthcoming offer of up to 30 hours of free childcare a week for children from nine months old with working parents (Table 2.3 below).
Awareness varied by family working status, with awareness lower in households ineligible for the scheme (32% among couple households with neither parent in work, rising to 74% among dual-working couple households). Awareness also varied by annual family income (32% among those earning under £10,000, rising to 76% of those earning £45,000 or more per year) (Table 2.3 below). There was no difference in awareness of the forthcoming 30 hours offer for younger children with working parents by the age of the children in the family.
Among parents with a child aged 0 to 4, over four in five (86%) were aware of the current 30 hours offer for children aged 3 to 4 with working parents, a rise from 2022 (82%) (Accompanying Table 3.1).
Awareness varied by family working status, with awareness lower in households ineligible for the scheme (73% among couple households with neither parent in work, rising to 91% among dual-working couple households). Awareness levels also varied by annual family income (66% among those earning under £10,000, rising to 93% of those earning £45,000 or more per year) (Table 2.4 below).
Awareness also varied by the age of the children in the household: among families with a child aged 0 to 2 (but no child aged 3 to 4) 80% were aware, while among families with a child aged 3 to 4 years (but no child aged 0 to 2 years) 90% were aware (Accompanying Table 3.9).
Parents who were aware of the 30 hours were asked if they knew that providers could charge for extra services, such as meals, consumables, and special lessons or activities. Over four in five (85%) parents knew this to be the case (Accompanying Table 3.13), in line with 2022 (84%). Among parents who were aware that providers can charge for certain extra services, most (75%) were aware that parents can choose not to receive, or pay, for these services (Accompanying Table 3.14), in line with 2022 (73%).
Official statistics from the DfE’s Early Years Census and Schools Census show that in January 2023, 363,000 children aged 3 to 4 benefitted from the 30-hour entitlement, or approximately four in every five eligible children. [1]
Over nine in ten (92%) parents using the 30 hours offer were satisfied with the way they were able to use the hours for their child (Accompanying Table 2.8), in line with 2022 (93%).
Among working parents with a 3 or 4 year-old who had not applied for the 30 hours and were not intending to apply, the most common reason for not applying was that they did not think they were eligible (67%). 31% of parents had not applied because of a reason unrelated to eligibility, including that their child had started school (12%), that they did not need any more hours of childcare (6%), that they would rather look after their child themselves (4%) and that they would prefer family/friends to look after their child(ren) (4%). (Accompanying Table 3.10)
Around three in five (61%) non-working parents with a child aged 0 to 4 years, who were not receiving or registered for the 30 hours, felt it was likely they would try to find paid work to become eligible for the 30 hours, in line with 2022 (62%). Among parents whose partner was not in work, and who were not already receiving or registered for the 30 hours, just over half (52%) thought it likely that their partner would try and find paid work to become eligible for the 30 hours, an increase from 2022 (42%). (Accompanying Table 3.2)
Almost all children receiving government funded hours (whether under the 2 year old offer, the 15 hours offer, or the 30 hours offer) received their hours from a single childcare provider (96%), with the remainder receiving their hours from two or more providers (Accompanying Table 3.12). These proportions are in line with 2022 (95%).
Among children receiving government funded hours from their main formal provider, around nine in ten (89%) were attending their parents’ first choice of provider (Accompanying Table 2.12), in line with 2022 (87%). For most (87%) children receiving government funded hours from their main formal provider, their parents had found it easy or very easy to get a place at the provider (Accompanying Table 2.14), in line with 2022 (86%).
Parents using the 30 hours were asked some questions to gauge the perceived impact of the hours on their work, their family finances and the overall quality of their family life.
Around two in five (41%) parents, said that in the absence of the 30 hours they would be working fewer hours, unchanged from 2022. Over two in five (46%) parents said that if the 30 hours were not available to them, they would still work the same number of hours (Table 2.5 below), in line with 43% in 2022. Five per cent of parents thought they would be working more hours were the 30 hours not available to them, in line with from 8% in 2022, and 8% thought they would not be working were the 30 hours not available to them, in line with 2022 (9%). There were no differences by family type in the proportion of parents who said they would work fewer hours.
Most parents felt the 30 hours had improved both their family finances and the overall quality of their family life. Almost three in four (70%) parents reported that the 30 hours had improved their family finances (in line with 2022, 74%), with 46% saying they had ‘slightly more money’ to spend than before, and 24% saying they had ‘much more money’ to spend than before (Accompanying Table 3.5).
Over four in five (86%) parents reported that the overall quality of their family life was better, compared with before they took up the 30 hours. This is higher than the 81% of parents who reported the same in 2018, when this impact was last assessed. (Accompanying Table 3.7)
In 2023, parents in couple households were more likely than lone parents to report that the overall quality of their family life was better since taking up the 30 hours offer (88% and 75% respectively). The opposite was found in 2018 when lone parents were more likely to report this than couple households (83% compared to 80%) (Accompanying Table 3.7).
This section first describes the weekly cost of childcare for families and per child, and perceptions around the cost of childcare. The second part of this section focusses on financial help with childcare costs, the impact of any government funded and employer provided childcare support, and awareness and use of tax-free childcare.
The overall median weekly amount paid by families (of children aged 0 to 14) to childcare providers (including both formal and informal providers) was £33.00 (Accompanying Table 4.5), in line with 2022 (£30.00). The amount paid varied depending on the number of hours of childcare used across all children in the household, and the types of providers used. Costs statistics are subject to a number of caveats, as described in the Technical Report.
Among families that only had children aged 0 to 4, the overall median weekly amount paid by families to childcare providers was £100.00, in line with 2022 (£90.00). This was higher than for families that only had children aged 5 to 14, who paid a weekly median of £24.00, in line with 2022 (£21.00).
Turning to child-level (rather than family-level) payments, the overall median weekly amount paid to formal childcare providers was £28.53 (Accompanying Table 4.6), a rise from 2022 (£20.98). Child-level payments are influenced by the total number of hours children spend in formal childcare, the age of the child as well as the types of providers used. As such, any changes in payments over survey years do not necessarily reflect changes in the fees and charges levied by childcare providers.
The overall median weekly amount paid to formal childcare providers was highest for children aged 0 to 4 (£70.00), with the payments for children aged 5 to 14 being considerably lower (£20.00). All payments were in line with those from 2022 (£65.24 for children aged 0 to 4, and £14.50 for children aged 5 to 14).
Around two in five (41%) parents overall rated the affordability of local childcare as very or fairly good, in line with 39% in 2022 (Figure 3.1 below). Around a third (32%) of parents rated the affordability of local childcare as very or fairly poor, a fall from 37% in 2022 (Accompanying Table 5.1).
Among families that only had children aged 0 to 4, two in five (40%) parents rated the affordability of local childcare as very or fairly good, in line with 2022 (41%). Just over two in five (42%) of these parents rated the affordability of local childcare as very or fairly poor, unchanged from 2022. (Accompanying Table 5.2)
Among families that only had children aged 5 to 14 years only, two in five (40%) parents rated the affordability of local childcare as very or fairly good, in line with 2022 (37%). Under a third (29%) of parents rated the affordability of local childcare as very or fairly poor, a fall from 34% in 2022. (Accompanying Table 5.2)
Just under half (49%) of parents who paid for childcare said it was easy or very easy to meet their childcare costs (Accompanying Table 4.3), in line with 47% in 2022. One in four (25%) found it difficult or very difficult to meet their childcare costs, in line with 24% in 2022 (Figure 3.2 below).
Difficulty in meeting childcare costs varied by annual family income. Only 18% families earning £45,000 or more per year found it difficult or very difficult to meet their childcare costs, which was in line with 17% in 2022. However, 52% of families earning £10,000 to £19,999 per year found it difficult or very difficult to meet their childcare costs (up from 36% in 2022). (Accompanying Table 4.3)
Among families that only had children aged 0 to 4 years only, under two in five (37%) parents who paid for childcare said it was easy or very easy to meet their childcare costs, unchanged from 2022. Around a third (34%) found it difficult or very difficult to meet their childcare costs, in line with 32% in 2022. (Accompanying Table 4.3)
Compared to families that only had children aged 0 to 4, a higher percentage (56% or over half) of those that only had children aged 5 to 14 who paid for childcare said it was easy or very easy to meet their childcare costs, which was in line with 53% in 2022. Consequently, a lower percentage (20%) of these families found it difficult or very difficult to meet their childcare costs, in line with 17% in 2022. (Accompanying Table 4.3)
Financial help with childcare costs
Parents were asked whether they received any financial help towards childcare costs for any children in the household. This covered a variety of sources, including an employer (via childcare vouchers, direct payments to providers, or provision at the parent’s place of work), the entitlement to government funded childcare / early education via their Local Education Authority (LEA), and an ex-partner but excluded any funded hours of childcare that parents may have been entitled to.
Among families who used formal childcare in the reference week, 11% reported that they received financial assistance from at least one external source (Accompanying Table 4.10), in line with 12% in 2022.
Parents were most likely to receive support from their LEA (6%, in line with 2022, 5%) and from their employer (4%, in line with 2022, 5%). The LEA figures are a lower percentage than would be expected as participants may not be aware that the free hours are coming from the local authority, but think instead they are coming directly from HMRC, therefore are not reporting free hours here when they do receive them.
Families with children aged 0 to 4 years only were more likely to receive financial support than families with older children (aged 5 to 14 years only). Among families with children aged 0 to 4 years only, 14% received some financial help, in line with 15% in 2022. Parents in these families were most likely to receive help from their LEA (11%, unchanged from 2022), followed by their employer (2%, in line with 3% in 2022).
Among families with older children aged 5 to 14 years only, 8% received some financial help, in line with 9% in 2022. Parents in these families were less likely to receive help from their LEA than families with children aged 0 to 4 years only (1% of families with children aged 5 to 14 years only received help from their LEA), and they were more likely to receive help from their employer than families containing children aged 0 to 4 years only (5% compared to 2% of families with children aged 0 to 4 years only) (Accompanying Table 4.10).
Impact of government-funded and employer-provided support
Parents in work and receiving one or more forms of government-funded or employer-provided support were asked what impact, if any, this support had had on their (and on their partner’s) job. The forms of support were: Government funded hours of childcare under the 15 or 30 hours offers; Tax-Free Childcare; Working Tax Credit and/or Child Tax Credit; employer-provided childcare vouchers; direct payments to a childcare provider made by an employer; and a childcare provider located at the parent or partner’s place of work.
Parents were most likely to say that the support they received had enabled them to stay in work (33%, in line with 31% in 2022), maintain their working hours (18%, unchanged from 2022), or increase their working hours (16%, also unchanged from 2022) (Accompanying Table 4.17). Four per cent of parents said the support had led them to decrease their working hours, in line with 2022 (3%).
There were some differences by the age of the children in the family about what impact the financial support had had. Families containing younger children (aged 0 to 4 years only) were more likely to say that the support they received enabled them to stay in work (34%, in line with 37% in 2022 compared to 31% among families with children aged 5 to 14 years only, in line with 2022, 27%). Families with 0 to 4 year olds were also more likely than families with older children to say that the support had led them to increase their working hours, 20% (in line with 2022, 18%), compared to 11% of families with children aged 5 to 14 years only (in line with 13% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 4.17).
Turning to the impact the support had on partners within all families, the support was most likely to have enabled them to stay in work (22%, unchanged from 2022), maintain their working hours (14%, in line with 15% in 2022), or increase their working hours (9%, in line with 10% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 4.18).
Tax-Free Childcare
Half (50%) of parents with a child aged under 12 were aware of the Tax-Free Childcare scheme, a rise since 2022 (48%) (Accompanying Table 5.29). By family work status, dual-working couple families were most likely to be aware of the scheme (61%, a rise since 2022, 56%), followed by working lone parent families (49%, in line with 45% in 2022). Couple families with neither parent in work were least likely to be aware (28%, in line with 25% in 2022).
Among parents with a child aged under 12 who had not applied for the Tax-Free Childcare scheme, 20% said they would ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ apply for it in the future, a decrease from 2022 (23%) (Accompanying Table 5.31). For those who did not intend to apply for Tax-Free Childcare in the future, the main reasons were because they did not use formal childcare (22%), because they claimed Universal Credit (20%), because they thought they (or their partner’s) income was too high (13%), or because they (or their partner) were not working (10%) (Accompanying Table 5.32).
Among families with children aged 0 to 4 years only, over three in five (61%) parents were aware of the Tax-Free Childcare scheme, in line with 58% in 2022, and these families were also more likely to be aware of the scheme than parents with children aged 5 to 14 years only (where 45% were aware, in line with 2022, 41%) (Accompanying Table 5.29). Also, a higher percentage of families with children aged 0 to 4 years only, than families with children aged 5 to 14 years only, who had not applied to the scheme yet said that they intended to apply for Tax-Free Childcare (33%) compared to 15% among families with children aged 5 to 14 years only (Accompanying Table 5.31).
This section explores the perceptions of the quality, availability and flexibility of local childcare provision, as well as the availability of information about local childcare.
Perceptions of quality
Among families with children aged 0 to 4 years only, more than two thirds (70%) of parents rated the overall quality of local childcare provision as very or fairly good, in line with 2022 (73%). Seven per cent rated it as very or fairly poor, in line with 2022 (6%) (Accompanying Table 5.2).
Among families with children aged 5 to 14 years only, three in five (60%) parents rated the overall quality of local childcare provision as very or fairly good, in line with 2022 (61%). Just under one in ten (8%) rated it as very or fairly poor, in line with 2022 (9%).
A lower percentage of families with children aged 5 to 14 years, than parents with children aged 0 to 4 years only, rated the quality of local childcare provision as very or fairly good, this could in part be attributed to the higher percentage of families with children aged 5 to 14 years saying they were not sure about the quality of childcare (31% compared to 22% among families with children aged 0 to 4 years only) (Accompanying Table 5.2).
Turning to the factors parents considered important in high quality childcare and early years education for their child aged 0 to 4 years, the most important factor was activities that encourage the child to socialise with other children (57%), in line with 2022 (59%), each staff member only having a small number of children to look after (47%) in line with 2022 (46%) and receiving regular feedback on their child’s progress (35%) in line with 2022, 33% (Accompanying Table 5.15).
Parents were also asked what they considered important in high quality childcare and out of school activities for their child aged 5 to 14 years. The most important factor was activities that encourage the child to socialise with other children (53%), the childcare or activity being affordable (32%) and having staff that are qualified for their role (31%) (Accompanying Table 5.33).
Perceptions of availability and flexibility
Around two in five parents overall (38%) felt the number of local childcare places was ‘about right’ (in line with 41% in 2022), while 35% said there were not enough places (in line with 33% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 5.1). Around a fifth (21%) of parents reported problems with finding childcare flexible enough to meet their needs, a fall from a quarter (25%) in 2022 (Accompanying Table 5.24).
Among families with a parent in work (couple families with one or both parents in work, and working lone-parent families), under half (46%) felt that they were able to find term-time childcare that fitted in with their (and/or their partner’s) working hours, in line with 2022 (49%) (Accompanying Table 5.24).
Among families with children aged 0 to 4 years only, just over two in five (42%) parents felt the number of local childcare places was ‘about right’ (a fall from 47% in 2022), while over a third (37%) said there were not enough places (in line with 34% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 5.2).
Among families with children aged 5 to 14 years only, over a third (36%) of parents felt the number of local childcare places was ‘about right’ (in line with 38% in 2022), while 34% said there were not enough places (in line with 32% in 2022).
Some of the differences on perceptions of availability between the families with younger and older children could be because parents of children aged 5 to 14 years only were more likely to say they were not sure about availability of local childcare provision (29% compared to 20% of families with children aged 0 to 4 years only).
Around a fifth (21%) of parents with children aged 0 to 4 years only reported problems with finding childcare flexible enough to meet their needs, a fall from 26% in 2022, whilst a fifth (20%) of parents with children aged 5 to 14 years only reported this, in line with 2022 (23%) (Accompanying Table 5.24).
Information about childcare
Just over two in five (42%) parents overall said the information available to them about childcare in their local area was ‘about right’ (unchanged from 2022). Around a third (34%) thought there was ‘too little’ information (also unchanged from 2022), while 2% felt there was too much information (a fall from 4% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 5.1). A further 22% of parents were unsure (in line with 21% in 2022).
A lower percentage of parents in families with children aged 5 to 14 years only said that the information available to them about childcare in their local area was ‘about right’ (40%) (unchanged from 2022), compared to 44% among parents in families with children aged 0 to 4 years only, (in line with 45% in 2022). However, the proportion of parents saying the amount of information available was ‘too little’ did not vary by the ages of children in the household. Over a third of families with children aged 0 to 4 years only (36%, in line with 35% in 2022) thought there was ‘too little’ information, which is comparable to 33% of families with children aged 5 to 14 years only (unchanged from 2022) (Accompanying Table 5.2).
Parents in families with children aged 5 to 14 years only were more likely to say they were unsure about the amount of information available (25% compared to 18% among parents in families with children aged 0 to 4 years only), which may account for a lower percentage of parents with children in this age group saying that the amount of information was ‘about right’.
This section discusses the frequency of learning within the home environment among children aged 0 to 5 years.
Frequency of home learning and play activities
The home learning activity most frequently carried out with children aged 0 to 5 years was looking at books or reading, with just over three in five (62%) parents reporting that someone at home does this activity at least once a day with their child (Accompanying Table 6.6), unchanged from 2022.
The next most frequently conducted home learning activities were learning songs, poems or nursery rhymes (52% of parents reported that someone at home does this at least once a day with their child, in line with 51% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 6.10), and learning numbers or to count (51% of parents also reported that someone at home does this at least once a day with their child, in line with 52% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 6.9).
Parents were asked where they get information and ideas about learning and play activities they can do with their child. Parents were most likely to get information from friends or relatives (60%), social media sites (49%), other parents (39%) and children’s television programmes (34%) and internet sites (33%) (Accompanying Table 6.19).
Awareness of, access to and services used at Family Hubs and Children’s Centres
Parents were asked if they were aware of a family hub, children’s centre, a children and family centre or a family centre, in their local area. For succinctness, we refer to these sites as ‘family hubs or children’s centres’ in the text that follows.Half (50%) of parents with a child aged 0 to 14 years were aware of a family hub or children’s centre in their local area. Awareness varied by the age of the children in the household. Among families with children aged 0 to 4 years only, 56% were aware, compared to 45% among families with children aged 5 to 14 years only (Accompanying Table 6.13).
Amongst the families who were aware of a family hub or children’s centre in their local area, 19% had accessed one or more services from any of these sites in the last year. Higher proportions of families with children aged 0 to 4 years only (41%) reported accessing a service compared to families with children aged 5 to 14 years only (8%) (Accompanying Table 6.13).
Those that had accessed any services through a family hub or children’s centre in their local area were asked which services or sources of help or support they had accessed in the last year. Support with early years education was accessed the most (58%) followed by midwifery, maternity or child health services (40%) (Accompanying Table 6.14).
The following section focusses on mother’s work patterns and which factors influenced them to go out to work.
Levels of work among mothers
Nearly three-quarters (72%) of mothers overall reported that they were in work (Accompanying Table 8.5), in line with 73% in 2022. In 2023 the proportion of mothers working full-time was 39% and the proportion of mothers working part-time was 33%, both of which were in line with the proportions in 2022 (41% of mothers were working full time in 2022, whilst 32% were working part-time in 2022) (Accompanying Table 7.16).
Just under half (48%) of non-working mothers said that if they could arrange good quality childcare that was convenient, reliable and affordable, they would prefer to go out to work (Accompanying Table 8.12), in line with 2022 (49%).
Among families with children aged 0 to 4 years only, around seven in ten (69%) mothers reported that they were in work (Accompanying Table 7.16), in line with 72% in 2022. The proportion of mothers working full-time or part-time remained the same in 2023 as in 2022, 37% in 2023 and 38% in 2022 were working full-time whilst 32% in 2023 and 34% in 2022 were working part-time.
Among families with children aged 5 to 14 years only, almost three quarters (74%) of mothers reported that they were in work, in line with 2022 (77%). There was a decrease in the proportion of mothers working full-time with children aged 5 to 14 years only to 41% in 2023 from 46% in 2022, but the proportion of mothers working part time was in line between the survey years (32% in 2023 and 31% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 7.16).
Over half (54%) of non-working mothers in families with children aged 0 to 4 years only said that if they could arrange good quality childcare that was convenient, reliable and affordable, they would prefer to go out to work (Accompanying Table 8.12), unchanged from 2022. However, a lower percentage of non-working mothers in families with children aged 5 to 14 years only, than non-working mothers in families with children aged 0 to 4 years only, said that if they could arrange good quality childcare that was convenient, reliable and affordable, they would prefer to go out to work, just over two in five (42%), in line with 2022 (43%).
In terms of longer-term trends in mother’s work patterns, there has been an increase in the percentage of mothers working full-time since 2010 to 2011 across all families (Accompanying Table 7.16). In 2011, 25% of all mothers were working full-time and by 2022 this had almost doubled to 41%. In 2023, the proportion remained stable with 39% of all mothers working full-time. Among mothers with children aged 0 to 4 years only there was a greater increase in full-time working over the time period, compared to mothers with children aged 5 to 14 years only. In 2010 to 2011 21% of mothers with children aged 0 to 4 years were working full-time, but by 2023 this had increased sixteen percentage points to 37%, whereas among mothers with children aged 5 to 14 years only 31% worked full time in 2010 to 2011 and by 2023 this had increased ten percentage points to 41%.
The increase in full-time working was accompanied by a decrease in the proportions working part-time or not working at all. In 2010 to 2011, 38% of mothers were working part-time and 37% of mothers were not working, by 2023 this has decreased to 33% working part-time and 28% not working. The decrease in part-time working and non-working was apparent among all mothers regardless of the age of their children, however there were differences in the trend by the age of the children in the family. There was a greater decrease in part-time working among mothers of children aged 5 to 14 years compared to mothers of children aged 0 to 4 years. In 2010 to 2011, 40% of mothers with children aged 5 to 14 years were in part-time work and by 2023 this had decreased to 32%, whereas among mothers of 0 to 4 year olds only, 38% were working part-time in 2010 to 2011 which decreased to 32% in 2023. Conversely, there was a greater decrease in mothers not working among mothers with children aged 0 to 4 years only than among mothers of older children. In 2010 to 2011, 41% of mothers of children aged 0 to 4 years were not working, by 2023 this had decreased to 31%, during the same period mothers of children aged 5 to 14 years not working had decreased from 30% in 2010 to 2011 to 26% in 2023 (Accompanying Table 7.16).
Factors influencing going out to work
Among mothers who had entered the workforce in the past two years, the most common reasons for starting work were wanting financial independence (20%), finding a job that enabled them to combine work with their child(ren) (18%), their financial situation (15%) and their child(ren) starting school (13%) (Accompanying Table 8.8). Five per cent of all mothers said they entered the workforce to become eligible for the 30 hours offer of free childcare for children aged 3 to 4 years with working parents.
Mothers who had transitioned from part-time to full-time work in the previous two years most commonly did so because of their financial situation (23%), because their child(ren) started school (23%), because a job opportunity or promotion arose (16%) and because their children were old enough to use childcare (13%) (Accompanying Table 8.9). Nine per cent of parents said they made this change to become eligible for the 30 hours offer of free childcare for children aged 3 to 4 years with working parents.
Working mothers were asked what childcare arrangements, if any, helped them to work. Parents in families with children aged 0 to 4 years only were the most likely to mention having reliable childcare (66%, a rise from 60% in 2022), falling to 30% among those in families with children aged 5 to 14 years only, in line with 2022, 29%. Parents in families with children aged 0 to 4 years only were also the most likely to mention having relatives who could help with childcare (48% a rise from 42% in 2022), compared to 32% among those in families with children aged 5 to 14 years only, (in line with 34% in 2022) (Accompanying Table 8.3).
Among working mothers in families with children aged 0 to 4 only:
Among mothers working part-time, around half (49%) said that even if there were no barriers to doing so, they would not increase their working hours or work full-time (Accompanying Table 8.1), in line with 51% in 2022. Among families with children aged 0 to 4 years only this proportion stood at 51% in line with 55% in 2022. Among families with children aged 5 to 14 years only this proportion also stood at 48%, in line with 2022 (51%).
Over a third (36%) of mothers working part-time said that, in the absence of any barriers, they would continue to work part-time but would increase their working hours, unchanged from 2022. Under one in six (15%) mothers working part-time said that, in the absence of any barriers, they would move into full-time work, in line with 12% in 2022.
Mothers in lone parent households were more likely than those in couple households to express a desire to move from part-time to full-time work (19% compared to 13% respectively).
By annual family income, those at the lower end of the income distribution were most likely to express a desire to move from part-time to full-time work (26% among those earning under £10,000, and 23% among those earning between £10,000 and £20,000, falling to 11% among those earning £45,000 or more). And in terms of the desire to increase working hours while continuing to work part-time, this was highest among those earning £10,000 – £19,999 (51%) but was lower among those earning £45,000 or more (31%) (Accompanying Table 8.1).
Parents were asked what changes to term time childcare provision were needed to make it better suited to their work needs. Among families with child(ren) aged 5 to 14 years, where the parent was working part-time, was unemployed, or was looking after the home and family, two in five (41%) felt that changes to term time provision after school rather than before school or in the evenings and/or at the weekend would suit their work needs the best. Furthermore, around one in five (18%) felt that more affordable childcare after school at their child's school would suit their work needs the best closely followed by 17% who felt that more childcare places e.g. at after school clubs at their child(ren)'s school would help (Accompanying Table 1.16).
Almost two fifths of parents (39%) said that none of the changes to term time childcare provision would make it better suited to their work needs, specifically because they did not want to work more or look for more work. A further 13% indicated that, in general, none of the changes that they were asked about would make term time childcare provision better suited to their work needs.
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