Childminders across the country are making such a loss on delivering the free entitlement they are not even paying themselves the minimum wage, a Nursery World investigation has found.
In a survey of 430 childminders, 84 per cent said taking funded three and four-year-olds means their income dips below the statutory minimum of £6.50 per hour.
Almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of respondents said they currently offer 15 hours of funded places - taking an average of 2.7 funded three and four-year-olds each. But nearly 70 per cent of these said they made a loss.
As a result, 88 per cent said they were either 'not sure' about taking, or 'not' going to take, three and four-year-olds when the free entitlement scheme extends to 30 hours per week. More than half (51 per cent) of those who do not currently offer funded places say it is because they cannot afford to.
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