Childcare for All?

In May 2025 the Northern Ireland Childcare Minding Association (NICMA) published a report Funded by the Department of Education entitled ‘Understanding the childcare needs of families with children who have disabilities or additional needs’.

In their survey almost 500 parents participated and indicated that their children had a range of developmental, physical, learning, behavioural and sensory support needs. The majority of the parents involved reported it is not easy for families with children who have disabilities or additional needs to find suitable childcare. The top three considerations for childcare settings cited by parents were staff skills and knowledge, cost and flexibility.  More than half of those surveyed said they currently use childcare for either work or respite purposes, and those who don’t use childcare mentioned a lack of specialist care as the main reason.

The report’s conclusion states an increase in provision would be helpful to improve parental choice along with an increased awareness of financial support, as uptake may be limited by uncertainty of lack of information.

In 2016 Employers For Childcare produced a report entitled Childcare for All? The report presented the findings of a survey which consulted families whose children had a disability or additional needs on the barriers they faced in accessing childcare and employment. It highlighted and reflected the views, attitudes and experiences of 2,750 parents and childcare providers.

The survey indicated that families perceived there to be a limited supply of suitable childcare provision, meaning that many parents could not work.  The majority of the parents not in employment stated that this was due to caring responsibilities relating to their children with disabilities or additional needs.

The survey results also revealed that an alarmingly high proportion of employed respondents do not use any form of childcare.  For those that do use childcare, informal provision was the main source of provision for such families, with grandparents being the most common choice.

Since 2010 Employers For Childcare conducted childcare surveys across Northern Ireland, and a significant percentage of parents and carers who participated commented on the specific challenges for families of children with disabilities or additional needs.

In the most recent survey in 2023, 10% of the almost 4,000 children represented had a disability that required additional or special care arrangements. The report referenced that families with children who have disabilities use fewer hours of childcare, are twice as likely to use no childcare at all and are more likely to use informal childcare.

Childcare has a critical role as economic, educational and societal infrastructure. Yet the continued absence of the new Early Learning and Childcare Strategy is failing the sector, failing parents, failing employers and – most importantly – failing children, including those with disabilities and additional needs.

Appropriate affordable childcare can be the key to unlocking so much potential and we have the components for a world class childcare infrastructure – excellent people, dedicated providers and a generationally significant opportunity to learn from experiences elsewhere to target much needed investment. What is needed is for the plans and the promises to translate into progress on the ground – for all our children!