Expansion to early childcare entitlements: Childcare Experiences Survey
Data guidance
Published
Description
The publication methodology, available on the publication report, should be referenced alongside this data. It provides methodological information on the survey design, sample, fieldwork, data analysis, interpretation and definitions used.
Coverage
This publication provides information on a survey of parents [who received a childcare code for their children aged 9 months to 2 years]. It covers parents’ experiences finding, applying for and using childcare provision and changes to their employment, including:
Household characteristics of survey respondents
Respondents' experiences of the entitlement application process
Barriers to accessing childcare such as waiting lists, challenges when applying and restrictions from providers
Types of childcare used, reasons for using childcare and satisfaction with provision
Changing costs of childcare and additional charges respondents pay to providers
Changes in respondents' employment patterns and childcare usage following the entitlements expansion
Data files
All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.
Section 2 - Ease of the working families childcare entitlement process
Filename
ease_of_application_process.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2025
Content
The extent respondents agreed the entitlement application process was easy to follow, broken down by several demographics.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
demographic_group
Demographic group
easy_application
Whether agree that application process was easy
percent
Proportion of respondents
Footnotes
Respondents were asked to indicate whether any children in their household have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). Those who answered "Yes" for any of their children, even if not the child the entitlements were claimed for, are labelled "has SEND children".
For the majority of respondents who were claiming entitlements for one child, the age of the oldest child refers to the age of the child receiving government-funded childcare. For respondents claiming entitlements for more than one child, it refers to the age of the oldest child for whom the working families' entitlement was applied. The child's age was recorded at the time of the survey. Some children who were 2 years old when the entitlement was applied for may have turned 3 by the time of the survey.
Respondents were asked on a 5-point Likert scale to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “The application process for the working families childcare entitlement was easy to follow”.
Section 2 - Ease of the working families childcare entitlement process by region
Filename
ease_of_application_process_region.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2025
Content
The extent respondents agreed the entitlement application process was easy to follow, broken down by regions in England.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
easy_application
Whether agree that application process was easy
percent
Proportion of respondents
Footnotes
Respondents were asked on a 5-point Likert scale to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “The application process for the working families childcare entitlement was easy to follow”.
Section 2 - Accessing the 15 hours funded working families childcare entitlement
Filename
whether_accessing_entitlements.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2025
Content
Whether respondents were accessing the 15 hours working parents childcare entitlement, broken down by several demographics.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
accessing_entitlement
Whether accessing 15 hours working parents entitlements
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
Footnotes
Respondents were asked to indicate whether any children in their household have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). Those who answered "Yes" for any of their children, even if not the child the entitlements were claimed for, are labelled "has SEND children".
Whether children were placed on a waitlist before accessing entitlements, or are currently on a waiting list (for respondents not currently claiming their entitlement), broken down by several demographics.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
placed_on_waitlist
Whether placed on waiting list before accessing entitlement
Footnotes
Respondents were asked to indicate whether any children in their household have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). Those who answered "Yes" for any of their children, even if not the child the entitlements were claimed for, are labelled "has SEND children".
If the child receiving government funded childcare was on a waiting list at the time of the survey, they may or may not still be on that waiting list, depending on whether they are now accessing the entitlement.
Challenges experienced when finding a childcare place, broken down by several demographics.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
challenges_finding_place
Challenges experienced finding a childcare place
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
Footnotes
Respondents were asked to indicate whether any children in their household have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). Those who answered "Yes" for any of their children, even if not the child the entitlements were claimed for, are labelled "has SEND children".
Percentages do not sum to 100, as respondents could select multiple options for this question.
Section 3 - Restrictions on usage of funded childcare hours
Filename
restrictions_on_hours.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2025
Content
Whether there are any restrictions from respondents' main provider about when they can use their funded hours. Data is given for all respondents (Total) and broken down by main childcare type.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
restrictions_on_using_hours
Any provider restrictions on when funded hours can be used
Proportions of respondents reporting using each type of childcare arrangement.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
childcare_types_used
Types of childcare arrangement
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
Footnotes
Percentages do not sum to 100, as respondents could select multiple options for this question.
Percentages shown as 0% may represent true values less than 0.5% that have been rounded down. For more precise figures, please download the table via the Export options link on the Table tab above.
Section 4 - Hours per week spent in formal childcare
Filename
weekly_childcare_hours.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2025
Content
Average hours of formal childcare used in a typical week. Data is given for all respondents (Total) and broken down by several demographics.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
demographic_group
Demographic group
mean_weekly_hours
Mean hours of childcare used per week
median_weekly_hours
Median hours of childcare used per week
Footnotes
Respondents were asked to indicate whether any children in their household have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). Those who answered "Yes" for any of their children, even if not the child the entitlements were claimed for, are labelled "has SEND children".
Due to the extremely small sample size, respondents using more than 70 hours of childcare per week were considered outliers and excluded from analysis.
Section 4 - Hours per week spent in formal childcare by region
Filename
weekly_childcare_hours_region.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2025
Content
Average hours of formal childcare used in a typical week. Data is given for all respondents (Total) and broken down by regions in England.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
mean_weekly_hours
Mean hours of childcare used per week
median_weekly_hours
Median hours of childcare used per week
Footnotes
Due to the extremely small sample size, respondents using more than 70 hours of childcare per week were considered outliers and excluded from analysis.
Section 4 - Tax free childcare change in amount used
Filename
tax_free_childcare_change.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2025
Content
Whether respondents will change the amount of tax free childcare they use.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
change_amount_tfc_use
Will change the amount of tax free childcare used?
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
Footnotes
Percentages shown as 0% may represent true values less than 0.5% that have been rounded down. For more precise figures, please download the table via the Export options link on the Table tab above.
Section 4 - Satisfaction with number of hours offered by childcare provider
Filename
satisfaction_with_hours_offered.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2025
Content
How satisfied respondents were with the number of hours offered by their main childcare provider. Data is given for all respondents (Total) and broken down by main childcare type.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
satisfaction_with_hours_offered
Satisfaction with the number of childcare hours offered by main provider
Section 4 - Satisfaction with opening hours of childcare provider
Filename
satisfaction_with_opening_hours.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2025
Content
How satisfied respondents were with the opening hours of their main childcare provider. Data is given for all respondents (Total) and broken down by main childcare type.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
satisfaction_with_opening_hours
Satisfaction with opening hours of main provider
Footnotes
Percentages shown as 0% may represent true values less than 0.5% that have been rounded down. For more precise figures, please download the table via the Export options link on the Table tab above.
Section 4 - Satisfaction with days per week offered by childcare provider
Filename
satisfaction_with_days_offered.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2025
Content
How satisfied respondents were with the days per week offered by their main childcare provider. Data is given for all respondents (Total) and broken down by main childcare type.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
satisfaction_with_days_offered
Satisfaction with days per week offered by main provider
Section 4 - Satisfaction with weeks per year offered by childcare provider
Filename
satisfaction_with_weeks_offered.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2025
Content
How satisfied respondents were with the weeks per year offered by their main childcare provider. Data is given for all respondents (Total) and broken down by main childcare type.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
satisfaction_with_weeks_offered
Satisfaction with weeks per year offered by main provider
Footnotes
Percentages shown as 0% may represent true values less than 0.5% that have been rounded down. For more precise figures, please download the table via the Export options link on the Table tab above.
Section 5 - Change in childcare costs since entitlements introduced in April 2024
Filename
change_in_childcare_costs.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2025
Content
How respondents' childcare costs changed since the entitlements were introduced in April 2024. Data is broken down by main childcare type and household income.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Section 6 - Changes in working hours since respondents started claiming working families entitlements
Filename
change_in_work_hours.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2025
Content
How respondents' working hours have changed since respondents started claiming working families entitlements, broken down by several demographics.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
change_in_work_hours
Change in working hours since respondent started claiming entitlements
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
Footnotes
Respondents were asked to indicate whether any children in their household have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). Those who answered "Yes" for any of their children, even if not the child the entitlements were claimed for, are labelled "has SEND children".
How influential respondents thought the introduction of the childcare entitlements were in their decision to change their working hours, broken down by several demographics.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
demographic_group
Demographic group
percent
Proportion of respondents
work_hours_change_influenced_by_entitlement
Influence of entitlements on change in work hours since respondent started claiming entitlements
Footnotes
Respondents were asked to indicate whether any children in their household have Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). Those who answered "Yes" for any of their children, even if not the child the entitlements were claimed for, are labelled "has SEND children".
Due to the extremely small sample size, respondents using more than 70 hours of childcare per week were considered outliers and excluded from analysis.
Percentages shown as 0% may represent true values less than 0.5% that have been rounded down. For more precise figures, please download the table via the Export options link on the Table tab above.