The childcare sector in Scotland is in crisis as more than a third of carers have left the profession in the last six years, it has been warned.
The Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) said 34% of childminders have quit since early education and childcare funding was increased in 2016.
By 2026, that number is expected to rise to 64%.
The Scottish Government said it was working with the SCMA to address the decline in childcare workers.
- Daycare centers warn of the risk of closure without new funding
- Appeal for financial support of childminders
- Promotion of early education
The SCMA said more than 1,900 childcare businesses and 11,000 places have also been lost over the past six years.
CEO Graeme McAlister said the losses were “unsustainable”.
“Two years ago, SCMA also warned that we had the makings of a staffing crisis. This crisis is here now,” he said. “There is a shortage of childminders across Scotland.
“We have reached a critical crossroads and a time span where we must act – to allow childcare to become less and less available and possibly disappear as a form of childcare in Scotland altogether, or to act decisively and intervene before it becomes too.” late is they protecting childcare for children and families across Scotland.
“The clock is ticking.”
The association’s Early Learning and Childcare Audit warns of the impact that the extension of the funded hours policy has had on childcare workers in Scotland and lists a number of recommendations which the organization says could support the recruitment of childminders.
The Scotland-wide initiative to hire 12,000 additional nursery staff to support expansion has had a destabilizing effect on the childcare sector.
As part of the audit, 82% of responding childminders indicated that paperwork had increased “very significantly” or “significantly,” with many having to fill out five additional hours of forms each week.
The research, commissioned by the Scottish Government, found that most local authorities had not carried out an impact assessment of early childhood education expansion plans on local childcare companies.
- The latest headlines from Scotland
Mr McAlister said the shortage of childminders was “impacting parental choice” and would hamper the Scottish Government’s commitments to childcare for one-year-olds and school-age children.
He said: “With childminder shortages across Scotland, demand is outstripping supply and there is a need and opportunity to create many more childcare businesses that can provide a rewarding, flexible career.”
He added that his organization had “tested an assisted childminder recruitment model in remote and rural areas that was successful in recruiting childminders in areas where others were unable,” adding that it now needs to be scaled up .
Scotland’s Minister for Children, Clare Haughey, said childminders are a “valued” part of early childhood education and childcare.
“We want to encourage more people to take up childcare and are working with the Scottish Childminding Association and other partners to address the decline in the childcare workforce – a trend that is being mirrored elsewhere in the UK,” she added.
“We also want new childcare services to develop in areas with limited access to this unique form of early learning and childcare. That’s why we’re supporting a recruitment pilot led by SCMA and partners that aims to hire and train 100 new childminders in remote and rural areas.”
Add Comment