Catalina Espinosa
Research expert covering society, economy, and politics for Europe and the EU
Childcare in the UK - Statistics & Facts
There were approximately 3.58 million children younger than five years old in the United Kingdom in 2022, which was around 5.3 percent of the population in that year. Among regions of the UK, London had both the highest population of young children in the population at 525,424, and also the highest proportion at 5.9 percent. During the same year there were slightly more males aged 0-4 than females, while the most common single year of age were four-year-old's, of which there were 743,637.
Childcare costs and availability
The cost of childcare in the United Kingdom varies quite significantly depending on the type of care and by the age of the child being looked after. As of 2024, the average weekly cost of 25 hours of nursery care in Great Britain amounted to 157.68 British pounds a week for under twos, 151.72 pounds for two-year-old's, and in England around 63.54 pounds a week for three to four-year olds. Full-time care, measured as being 50 hours a week was naturally more expensive, ranging from 302.10 pounds a week for under twos in Great Britain, to 120.93 pounds for three to four-year old's in England. Childcare in Inner London was a lot more expensive than the rest of the country, with a part-time nursey place for under twos having a weekly cost of just over 218 pounds a week, compared with 125 pounds in Scotland.Education providers and workforce
In 2023, there were approximately 63,207 registered early years childcare providers in England, providing approximately 1.27 million childcare places. There has been a steady decline in the number of early years education providers in England, with approximately 25,900 fewer providers in 2023 that there were in 2015 when there were over 89,000. The most common type of childcare or education providers were childminders, with around 27,877 of them in 2023, compared with 26,884 non-domestic childcare providers. In terms of workforce, there were around 643,900 people working in childcare professions in the UK in 2023. The most common type of profession was teaching assistants, at 260,900.
