The Role Of A Childminder
Childminders are self-employed professional childcarers who work in their own homes to provide care and education for other people's children in a family environment. It is a viable career option if you are considering entering the childcare field, or transferring skills already gained within another type of childcare provision.

Working As A Childminder
As childminders are self-employed, you would take care of your own Tax and National Insurance contributions. SCMA produces a guide about Tax and National Insurance contributions. The guide is distributed free on an annual basis to members and available (from Head Office) to non-members for a minimum fee. If you are an SCMA member you can download/view SCMA's Tax & National Insurance booklet in the Member's Zone.

As a childminder you would also negotiate a contract for your service with parents for which you charge a fee. You would not be employed by the parent, but work for yourself and on your own terms.  

Childminders are inspected and registered by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (Care Commission). SCMA supports pre-registered and newly registered childminders throughout the registration process.

Why Choose To Be A Childminder?
Childminding is both rewarding and fulfilling as you will be positively contributing to children’s learning and development, as well as keeping them safe and secure. Childminders enjoy the flexibility of the daily routine which comes from looking after small groups of children. You can operate your business to fit around your particular home life situation, and being home-based means you can provide a valuable service for the local community.

Who Uses Childminders And Why?
Parents/guardians choose childminding because it offers them a flexibility of service that is difficult to find in any other childcare provision. Children enjoy being cared for by a childminder as it gives them the opportunity to learn from real life experiences in the comfort of a home-based setting.

Childminding benefits the community as everyday activities such as shopping trips, school runs, family mealtimes and visits to the park, teach children valuable life skills that they might not acquire so readily in centre-based care. These activities also educate children about their local environment.

What Sort of Income Can I Earn?
Childminders are self-employed and it will be up to you to negotiate your own fees and working conditions. Scottish Childminding Association produces a guide to pay and conditions that would give an idea of hourly/weekly fees being charged by working childminders in each Local Authority area. This information is based on our annual survey of childminders. The guide is distributed free on an annual basis to members and available (from Head Office) to non-members for a minimum fee. If you are an SCMA member you can download/view SCMA's Pay & Conditions booklet in the Member's Zone.

Further Information
If you want to find out more about becoming a childminder you can contact SCMA's HELPline (which is open Monday to Friday, 10.00am to 4.00 pm on 01786 449063).