jobfacts

Childminder

Childminders — SOC 2020 6114

Childminders provide day-to-day care of children in their own homes, and supervise and participate in their play, educational and other activities.

Also calledChild carerNursemaidChild minderChildren's nurseMother's helpBaby sitterand 3 more titles
Typical full-time pay£24,3002025 Provisional
People in the job43,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month116↓ 10%on last year · 383rd of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025
What full-time childminders earn, 2025
£24,300 typicaln/ptop 10%
n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less thanNot published
25%Not published
Median£24,300
75%Not published
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
More than half (84%) of childminders work for themselves. These pay figures only cover employees, so they may not reflect what self-employed childminders earn.
Typical pay by regionUK median £24,300
North EastNot published by ONS–
North WestNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
East MidlandsNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
LondonNot published by ONS–
South EastNot published by ONS–
South WestNot published by ONS–
ScotlandNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
Show as table
UK median, £24,300
North EastNot published by ONS
North WestNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
East MidlandsNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
LondonNot published by ONS
South EastNot published by ONS
South WestNot published by ONS
ScotlandNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £21,300
  • 2024 £20,200
  • 2025 Provisional£24,300
↑ 14% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 116 jobs for childminders are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (3 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026135
Jul 2026178
Jun 2026Not published
May 2026123
Apr 2026102
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026Not published
Jan 2026112
Dec 202552
Nov 202584
Oct 2025158
Sept 2025102
Aug 202597
Jul 2025118
Jun 2025128
May 2025149
Apr 2025126
Mar 2025181
Feb 2025719
Jan 2025183
Dec 202488
Nov 202495
Oct 2024150
Sept 2024157
Aug 2024113
Jul 2024159
Jun 2024142
May 2024146
Apr 2024121
Mar 202493
Feb 2024123
Jan 2024127
Dec 202399
Nov 2023248
Oct 2023316
Sept 2023559
Aug 20231,088
Jul 2023662
Jun 20231,450
May 20231,150
Apr 2023594
Mar 2023589
Feb 2023628
Jan 2023615
Dec 20221,346
Nov 20221,824
Oct 2022397
Sept 2022319
Aug 2022389
Jul 2022340
Jun 2022474
May 2022349
Apr 2022396
Mar 2022421
Feb 2022454
Jan 2022600
Dec 2021494
Nov 2021374
Oct 2021285
Sept 2021338
Aug 2021203
Jul 2021369
Jun 2021247
May 2021356
Apr 2021252
Mar 2021331
Feb 2021269
Jan 2021262
Dec 2020338
Nov 2020531
Oct 2020691
Sept 2020902
Aug 2020407
Jul 2020215
Jun 2020100
May 2020117
Apr 2020423
Mar 20201,135
Feb 20201,479
Jan 2020920
Dec 2019942
Nov 2019689
Oct 20191,200
Sept 20191,258
Aug 2019275
Jul 2019674
Jun 2019837
May 2019146
Apr 2019581
Mar 2019102
Feb 2019107
Jan 2019181
Dec 201890
Nov 2018191
Oct 2018183
Sept 20183,754
Aug 20181,812
Jul 20182,708
Jun 20182,634
May 20183,067
Apr 20183,804
Mar 20182,966
Feb 20182,859
Jan 20184,067
Dec 20171,610
Nov 2017973
Oct 2017925
Sept 20172,868
Aug 20175,077
Jul 20174,564
Jun 20176,556
May 20173,760
Apr 20173,044
Mar 20172,763
Feb 20172,046
Jan 2017411
Is there a shortage of childminders?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, online job advert density, hours and earnings due to proportion of self employed workers.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
32%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for teaching and childcare support occupations, which includes childminders. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London73
Birmingham8
Bath and North East Somerset6
Sheffield6
Bristol, City of5
Chelmsford5
Buckinghamshire4
Elmbridge4
Glasgow City4
Leeds4
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where childminders are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of childminders
6.6%!
16%!
27%!
36%!
15%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–246.6% (small sample)
25–3416% (small sample)
35–4427% (small sample)
45–5436% (small sample)
55–6415% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent29%
Higher education below degree!10%
A levels or equivalent36%
GCSEs or equivalent!17%
Other qualifications!7.8%
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent29%
Higher education below degree10% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent36%
GCSEs or equivalent17% (small sample)
Other qualifications7.8% (small sample)
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: child day-care activities (89%), pre-primary education (2.5%), other social work activities without accommodation nec (1.7%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
29%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
A levels or equivalent
held by 36%
Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work
Self-employed
84%
of people in the job

Routes in

You can get into this job by:

Other routes

You can attend an introductory childminding briefing that covers everything you need to prepare to register as a childminder. Your local council can give you information on where to find a briefing.

The aim is to make sure that you understand what is involved before making a decision about whether it's the right career for you.

What you’ll need

  • pass enhanced background checks
  • pass a medical check

Registration and professional bodies

Registration
  • If you want to care for children under 8 for more than 2 hours a day, you have to register with one of the following: Ofsted a Childminder Agency (CMA) For this, you'll usually need to complete: a home-based childcare course that covers the Early Years Foundation Stage framework a paediatric first aid course child protection training - safeguarding a food safety qualification You may have to do a basic skills test to show that you have the minimum standard of English and maths needed to support the educational development of children in your care. You'll also need to pass an assessment of your home and any equipment you will use. Local councils, CMAs and professional bodies can provide pre-registration training to become a childminder. They also have information on registering and further training once you are working as a childminder. Your first step is to check out Ofsted's pre-registration briefing on becoming a childminder.You can read about the differences between registering with Ofsted and a CMA, to help you to decide which route to take.
Career tips

It's a good idea to do some research to find out if there's a demand for childminders in your local area.

As you'll be self-employed, you might find it useful to learn about setting up your own business and your responsibilities for tax and insurance.

You could either register as a childminder based at home or you could register as a childminder based outside the home. Find out more about registering as a childminder from GOV.UK.

Further information

You can find out more about working as a childminder at Early Years Careers. You can contact professional bodies for advice on how to become a childminder, training courses and registration:

  • Coram PACEY
  • Early Years Alliance
  • Foundation Years
  • Organisation for Childminder Agencies

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for childminder. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • changes babies’ nappies and clothes as necessary and makes up bottles for feeds
  • plans, prepares and serves children’s meals and supervises children during meals
  • provides, supervises and participates in children’s indoor and outdoor play activities to promote their development
  • takes children to participate in play groups or on appropriate outings
  • takes older children to and from school
  • maintains appropriate records of children’s development
  • complies with regulations set by OFSTED and their inspection requirements

Skills

  • communicate with youth
  • supervise children
  • provide first aid
  • adhere to organisational guidelines
  • apply conflict management
  • assist in children's development of basic personal skills
  • assist passengers
  • attend to children's basic physical needs
  • cooperate with colleagues
  • handle chemical cleaning agents
  • maintain relations with children's parents
  • monitor student's behaviour
  • play with children
  • assess the development of youth

Knowledge

  • common children's diseases
  • health and safety measures in transportation
  • passenger transport regulations
  • workplace sanitation
  • baby care
  • babysitting
  • disability care
  • pedagogy

Suits people who like

  • Helping and caring for people
  • Organising and following procedures

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for caring personal service occupations, a group of 16 jobs that includes childminders.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 20%about 466,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.9 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.