About one-third of children in Ireland attend childcare, census finds

About one in three children aged under 15 are in some form of childcare, with creches or similar formal settings the most commonly used option, according to data from Census 2022.

The figures, published on Thursday by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), show there were more than 1.01 million children aged up to 15 in the State on census night, which was on April 3rd last year. This is an increase of 5,736 or 0.6 per cent since 2016.

For the first time in the census, households were asked about childcare. The answers show 331,783 under-15s attended some form of childcare, with proportions ranging from 29 per cent in south Dublin and Dublin city to 38 per cent in Co Monaghan.

[ ‘My mother and father are a massive help. They mind the kids because of the crazy prices of childcare’ ]

Creches or similar facilities were most commonly used (42 per cent), followed by an unpaid relative or family member (28 per cent) with 16 per cent of children cared for in a childminder’s home.

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At 57 per cent, Galway city recorded the highest proportion of children in creches while Louth recorded the highest proportion of children minded by an unpaid relative or family member, at 36 per cent.

One-third of all children in childcare were cared for up to 10 hours a week, with a further third attending for 11-20 hours a week. Just over 12 per cent were minded for 31-40 hours a week. A smaller proportion – 5 per cent – were in childcare for 41 hours or more a week.

Just under half (45 per cent) of children aged up to four were in childcare, with creches the most common type used at 56 per cent, while 19 per cent were looked after by an unpaid relative or family member.

Half of all primary schoolchildren were in some type of childcare. Fifty-one per cent were in childcare for up to 10 hours. Of these, 35 per cent were in a creche, after-school or similar facility, with a further 32 per cent being cared for by an unpaid relative or family member.

Just 3.2 per cent of children in secondary school aged 13-14 were in childcare, and 64 per cent of these went to an unpaid relative.

Marked differences were recorded among children of different nationalities. Some 35 per cent of children with Irish parents attended childcare, compared with less than a fifth of children with Polish or Asian parents.

The highest proportion of children in childcare was among children of Australians (37 per cent) followed by Irish. Ukrainian children were least likely to be in childcare (16 per cent).