Use of funded childcare

As highlighted above, all three and four year olds, and an estimated fifth of two year olds, are entitled to ELC that is funded by the Scottish Government. The statutory entitlement begins the term after the child’s third birthday, although some local authorities will start provision from the date the child turns three. Two year olds are eligible for funded ELC if they meet certain criteria and they remain eligible even if circumstances change and they no longer meet the two year old eligibility criteria. It is estimated that around a fifth of two year olds are eligible for funded ELC. Some children may also receive funded ELC at the local authority’s discretion. Funded ELC reported on here is a combination of both types. From August 2021, the statutory entitlement was 1,140 hours per year. Prior to this children were entitled to 600 hours per year, but may have been offered or provided with more at the discretion of the local authority. The increase to 1,140 hours was due to occur in August 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, many local authorities rolled out the expanded provision as planned so may have been offering the full entitlement prior to August 2021.

Overall, 62% of households stated that their child was entitled to funded ELC, but this varied greatly by age. 85% of households with a four or five year old stated that their child was entitled to funded ELC, with 10% stating that the child was not eligible. 77% of those with a three year old stated that their child was entitled to funded ELC with 17% stating that the child was not. Only 22% of households with a two year old stated that their child was eligible for funded ELC while 68% said that the child was not. Overall, 7% of households stated that they did not know whether their child was eligible (Table 19).

Of those households who stated that their child was entitled to funded ELC, 85% stated that they receive it during term time (Table 20) and 90% said that they receive it during the school holidays (Table 26). During term-time, two-thirds (66%) of households said that they used between 21 and 30 hours per week, with a further 22% using between 11 and 20 hours per week (Table 22). During the school holidays, over half (54%) of households used between 21 and 30 hours per week, an increase from 29% in 2019. A further 30% used between 11 and 20 hours per week in 2024 (Table 27).

Hours of funded ELC used across the full year are estimated by multiplying hours used per week in term time and hours used per week in school holidays by the number of weeks of each per year. This assumes that the household uses their funded ELC consistently throughout term time and school holidays. Where households do not use funded childcare consistently (e.g. only use childcare for 25 of the 38 available term time weeks), this will result in an overestimate of the annual hours used.

Across the full year, 54% of households using funded ELC were estimated to have used the full entitlement of 1,140 hours, with 38% using less than this. 7% did not know how many hours they used annually (Table 25).