05/02/2026
Thereās something happening quietly in the UK that should be making every single person stop and pay attention.
We are losing childminders.
Not slowly. Not āa few here and thereā.
In England, registered childminders have dropped to around 25,000.
Thatās 1,000 fewer in the last year alone.
And the long-term picture is even worse - weāve gone from around 60,000 childminders in 2009 to under 25,000 today.
That isnāt a āshift in childcare trends.ā
Thatās a collapse of a whole part of the sector.
And what makes it heartbreaking is this:
Childminders arenāt leaving because they donāt care.
Theyāre leaving because theyāve been pushed to the edge.
These are the people who:
* provide a genuine home-from-home experience
* offer the flexibility families rely on
* know children inside out (their interests, their triggers, their routines, their confidence levels)
* build bonds that arenāt just āprofessionalā - theyāre secure and life-shaping
* support families through the hardest moments, not just the easy ones
* teach, nurture, guide, comfort, protectā¦ and somehow still manage paperwork, admin, learning journeys, safeguarding, training, risk assessments and inspections on top
Childminders donāt do this job for the money.
They do it because they believe in giving children the best start.
So why are they disappearing?
Because the sector is being stretched to breaking point by:
constant change,
more demands,
more accountability,
more financial pressure,
ā¦and honestly? not enough respect.
And while this is happening, it genuinely feels like the direction of travel is: children being āplacedā into childcare that looks more like school, from as young as 9 months.
Iām sorry butā¦ 9 months old.
That should make us all pause.
Because childcare isnāt just about getting parents back to work (as important as that is).
Itās about babies and toddlers being cared for in ways that are developmentally appropriate, nurturing, responsive, and safe.
And homebased childcare has always offered something incredibly special - yet it still isnāt valued the way it should be.
Parents choose childminders because they want:
ā
a smaller setting
ā
familiar routines
ā
stability
ā
flexible care
ā
a caregiver who knows their child deeply
ā
an environment that feels like home - not a production line
And yetā¦ the people providing this essential care are being forced out.
Not because they donāt love the job.
But because loving the job is no longer enough to survive it.
If we lose childminders, families lose choice.
Communities lose support.
Children lose a beautiful, nurturing early experience.
And the early years sector, already on its knees loses even more of its foundation.
This matters.
More than most people realise.
