Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a list of the number and proportion of childcare staff who were aged (a) under 25, (b) 25-39, (c) 40-49 and (d) over 50 years in each year between 2012 and 2021.

The department collects information on the childcare workforce through the survey of childcare and early years providers. This is a long-standing, nationally representative survey of 10,000 childcare and early years providers. The latest data was published on 15 December 2022 and is available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2022.

Surveys were run in 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021. The surveys can be found on GOV.UK at the following links:

• 2013: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2013.
• 2016: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2016.
• 2018: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2018.
• 2019: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2019.
• 2021: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2021.

Comparable workforce data is only available from 2019 and 2021. The survey of childcare and early years providers was re-purposed in 2018 so time series comparisons cannot be made before that date.

Age breakdown of the childcare and early years workforce (2019, 2021):