Scottish Household Survey: childcare topic report

Views on Funded ELC

This section will present responses from those who use funded ELC either during term-time or during school holidays, covering their satisfaction with funded ELC and any issues they face with it.

Level of satisfaction with funded ELC

Figure 6 shows the level of satisfaction families had with the funded ELC they received. Of the households that used funded ELC in 2019, 92 per cent stated that they were either very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the overall quality of funded childcare they received. This is an increase from 86 per cent in 2018. Only four per cent of families said that they were dissatisfied with the provision they were receiving in 2019.

Issues in using funded ELC

Almost two-thirds of households (64 per cent) reported that they had no problems with the funded ELC they were receiving (Figure 7). However, some families did report issues with some aspects of funded provision. The most common issues reported were that there were not enough funded hours to meet their needs (14 per cent), lack of flexibility in days or times offered (14 per cent) and lack of provision in the school holidays (13 per cent).

Overall, level of area deprivation did not have a large impact on the issues being reported (Figure 8). The differences between the 20 per cent most deprived areas and the rest of Scotland in some categories should be considered cautiously due to the low base numbers. 

Ways funded ELC providers are helping parents/carers to support their children

There are many ways childcare provides support to parents and carers with their children, such as by providing good ideas for childhood learning and development, and through communication with parents and carers of children receiving funded ELC regarding their child's progress.

ELC providers help parents by giving them ideas to support their child's learning, such as outdoor activities, reading stories together, and sorting washing together. When asked whether they agreed that their childcare provider gave them good ideas for ways to help their child learn, more than half of households (51 per cent) strongly agreed and an additional third (32 per cent) tended to agree, with only four per cent disagreeing (Figure 9a).

Figure 9b shows whether parents and carers agreed that their funded ELC providers communicate with them regularly about their child's progress. Almost two thirds (65 per cent) of households strongly agreed that they were regularly informed about the progress of their child, and a further quarter (24 per cent) tended to agree. Only five per cent of households disagreed with the statement.

Figure 9: Level of agreement of parents and carers with the statements 'They give me good ideas for ways to help my child learn' (9a) and 'They communicate with me regularly about my child's progress' by SIMD (20 per cent most deprived to rest of Scotland)
Percentages, 2019 data