The first of two pieces of important research on childminding undertaken by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Scottish Government has been published (28 September 2021), which provides evidence on the impact of childminding services, how professional childminding contributes to improving outcomes for children and their families in Scotland and how it can offer additional benefits over other types of childcare.
The Scottish Government’s
Perceptions of the Impact of Childminding Services on Child, Parent and Family Outcomes report has been published as part of its commitment to undertake independent childminding research and explore the outcomes for children and families. This was included as a key commitment within the Scottish Government’s
Childminding Action Plan.
The findings of the report are intended to strengthen the evidence base on the unique benefits of childminding. They will also be used to raise wider awareness with parents and carers about the benefits of childminding within funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) expansion – enabling them to make an informed choice on how they receive the 1140 funded hours entitlement for their family.
KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE:
Childminding supports children and families
Parents and childminders believed that:
- childminders have a professional approach, delivered in a very nurturing manner;
- the main features of childminding which support children include the homely setting (an “extension to home”) where children feel comfortable and secure – which in turn supports learning and development;
- mainly due to small numbers in the childminding setting, childminders are more flexible than nurseries, meaning they can be more spontaneous, provide more freedom to children and be more ‘child-led’ when planning activities, can also be more responsive to individual children’s needs and promote positive behaviours;
- the mix of children of different ages within small groups can enable children to form close relationships, supporting learning and development (including social skills);
- childminders are able to offer certain types of activities that a nursery may not, for example more trips, spending more time outdoors and in the local community, and more domestic activities; and
- childminders provide very strong continuity of care, getting to know children “inside out”, can personalise their care to each child’s style of learning and respond appropriately.
Childminding supports parents
Parents highlighted:
- the flexibility offered by professional childminding was seen as a key benefit; in addition, parents appreciated that childminders would often go ‘above and beyond’ what might be expected to be provided to families;
- the “close, but professional relationship” with their childminder was particularly valued with many childminders being seen as both an “extended part of the family” and as a trusted professional from whom they could access informal, non-judgemental professional advice;
- childminding is more than just a form of childcare - with childminders providing an extra level of both practical and emotional support to families;
- children and parents benefit from childminders’ professional experience and training, in contrast to informal childcare where it can be much more difficult for parents to request boundaries from family members.
Childminding and blended childcare
Parents reported a number of reasons why they chose to combine the use of a childminder with another form of childcare such as a nursery:
- for flexibility and to cover all or part of their work or study hours;
- while some parents want their child to experience a nursery and mix with children of their own age before going to school, parents also saw additional benefits of their child(ren) mixing in small groups and forming close relationships with children of different ages in a childminding setting – particularly in relation to learning and development (including social skills);
- accessing the ‘best of both’ different forms of childcare (particularly beneficial for children with additional support needs);
- a sense that full days at nursery could be too long or a child may be lost in a larger setting.
The impact of the pandemic on childminders and families
The report highlights that many childminders were adversely affected financially by the pandemic and acknowledges how hard childminders worked to support families’ new needs and routines that emerged as a result of COVID-19, often going 'above and beyond' to continue to have contact with children via video calls, or devising their own resource packs in order to continue to support children’s learning, or running small events online that children could engage with at home.
Perceptions of funded ELC
Parents using their funded hours with a childminder described:
- benefits of savings on childcare costs;
- being able to choose the childcare that best suited them and their child;
- a lack of awareness and clarity amongst parents about funded hours and that they could be used with a childminder
Childminders delivering funded hours highlighted some impacts on their professional life, including delivery of funded ELC providing a security to invest in childminding as a business.
Raising awareness of professional childminding
- Parents and childminders identified some misconceptions regarding childminding that they thought should be addressed; that childminding is still mistakenly viewed by some as “like babysitting” or that children are “just sitting watching tv”.
- It was felt that a lack of knowledge about the training, qualifications and experience of many childminders, and the regulations they must adhere to (same standards as for nurseries) was at the root of these misconceptions.
Graeme McAlister, Chief Executive of SCMA, said: “
SCMA welcomes the publication of this report, as while the many benefits identified by the research will be well-known to childminders and families who use their settings, these benefits are much less well-known to many within the wider public whose first, or indeed only thought, in terms of childcare may be nursery and based on a historical narrative or belief that all children must attend nursery as grounding for attending primary school.
“Childminding still suffers from outdated misperceptions that it is somehow a lesser form of childcare. What we have here is increasing evidence that the reverse is true. We know that childminders consistently achieve higher ratings across all quality criteria, through independent inspection by the Care Inspectorate, than Daycare of Children’s Services (local authority and private nurseries together). However, there has been relatively little research into the quality within childminding in comparison to the research into nursery provision. As such, this latest research is very valuable in capturing understanding and adding to the evidence base on the many, many benefits of childminding.
“From parents valuing it for many aspects of additionality in comparison to other childcare (more flexibility, more child-centred, more personalised), to how it can be used to complement other forms of childcare (enabling children to experience the ‘best of both’). It is clear that parents also greatly value the close, but professional relationship with their childminder – in some cases being viewed as an extended part of the family, but while remaining professional and being able to provide informal, professional and non-judgemental advice and emotional support.
“The Scottish Government has committed to using this research to promote wider understanding amongst parents about the benefits of childminding for accessing their funded hours of ELC and we will continue to work with the Scottish Government and local authorities on this important area. This will be vitally important as both parents and childminders who participated in the research believed strongly that much more needs to be done to inform parents about the benefits of childminding and that they can use childminding in full or in part for their funded hours entitlement.”
The report also reinforces the need for more childminders across Scotland to strengthen the childminding workforce. SCMA’s new strategy heavily focuses on increasing the value of childminding and redefining how it is viewed both by parents who may wish to use a childminder, but also of those who may wish to begin a career as part of this exciting and rewarding profession.
We will continue to work with Scottish Government and others to ensure that childminding receives the recognition it deserves and is promoted equally alongside other providers as a high-quality form of childcare, as well as highlighting childminding as a fantastic career choice.
Parents and carers are entitled to funded ELC that meets the needs of their family. If childminding isn’t available as an option in your area, you can contact your local authority, councillor and/or MSP. For more information on how to do this, please visit the
Childminding and Parental Choice page on our website.
Read the ‘Perceptions of the Impact of Childminding Services on Child, Parent and Family Outcomes’ report in full
HERE.