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Viewing report
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Childcare Market Assessment 2006
Key Note Publications Ltd, Jan 2006
Despite a slight rise in the birth rate between 2003 and 2005, the child population has fallen since 2001. Nevertheless, demand for childcare continues to rise as mothers of young children opt to work either full or part time.
Since the introduction of the National Childcare Strategy in 1998, the Government has introduced many measures to improve conditions for working parents and their children. However, issues and challenges relating to implementation have been raised by the National Audit Office's (NAO's) review in 2004, the Department for Education and Skills' (DfES') 5-year strategy in July 2004 and the Government's 10-year childcare strategy in December 2004. The Government and the Welsh Assembly have achieved their targets relating to the provision of free part-time early education places to all 3 year-olds in England (April 2004) and Wales (September 2005). In addition, it has met its targets regarding childcare tax credits for working parents, as well as making headway with its plans for the introduction of Sure Start centres and `wrap-around' care. However, the full impact of the initiatives is yet to be seen, with issues such as geographical variation in childcare provision and the sustainability of childcare provision still to be addressed.
The private nursery sector is experiencing a period of consolidation. The falling child population and increasing competition from the state sector as a result of government initiatives means that nursery chains, now faced with greater competition from primary schools and state school-managed wrap-around care, are developing with caution. Private nurseries are also influenced by the trend towards more flexibility in the workplace, which means that parents are likely to require part-time rather than full-time nursery places. In addition to this, although it is early days, the introduction of childcare tax credits for parents opting to make use of home-based childcare is also anticipated to influence parental choice. This places childminders and nannies in a good position to market themselves against nurseries over the next few years.
Research commissioned in October 2005 exclusively for this report indicated that government childcare initiatives have not made a great impression on respondents, with only 21% claiming that the Government was not doing enough to help mothers who wish to go back to work, while 21% felt that the Government was doing too much.
It is forecast that, over the next 5 years (to 2010), the total UK childcare market will continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate than the previous 5 years (2001 to 2005).
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