Scottish Household Survey 2025 Childcare

Hours of childcare used

During term time, around two fifths (42%) of households that used some form of childcare used between 21 and 30 hours per week. This has been the most common number of hours used since 2022. Prior to this, the most common number of hours used was 11 to 20 hours per week. This increase is likely due to the increase in the number of available hours of funded ELC from 600 to 1,140 hours per year in 2021. A further 23% used between 11 and 20 hours per week, and 18% used more than 30 hours per week (Table 7).

The number of hours used per week varied by the age of the child. For households with a two year old, the most common number of hours used was 11 to 20 per week (32%), followed by 21 to 30 hours per week (25%). For older children, 21 to 30 hours per week was the most common, used by 52% of households with a three year old and 44% of households with a four or five year old.

During the school holidays, around one third (35%) of households used no or less than one hour of childcare per week. Around one quarter (23%) used 21 to 30 hours per week, and a further 18% used 11 to 20 hours per week (Table 11).