This publication is part of a series of results from Census 2022. More thematic publications will be published throughout 2023 as outlined in the Census 2022 Publication Schedule.
On Census Night 2022, there were 1,012,287 children aged under 15 in the State. This represents an increase of 5,735 since 2016. A new question on whether these children were in childcare, the type of childcare they were in and the weekly hours they were being cared for was included in the census for the first time.
Almost one-third (331,783) of children under the age of 15 in the State were in some form of childcare.
This ranged from 29% of children in South Dublin and Dublin City to 38% of children in Monaghan.
A crèche or a similar facility was the most common form of childcare (42%), followed by an unpaid relative or family member (28%).
There were 16% of children in childcare who were cared for in a childminder's home.
An au pair/nanny/childminder in the child's home cared for 6% of children in childcare, with a further 6% minded by a paid relative or family member.
At 57%, Galway City recorded the highest proportion of children in crèches while Louth recorded the highest proportion of children minded by an unpaid relative or family member (36%).
The question on childcare included information on the number of hours spent in childcare per week. Just under two-thirds of children in childcare spent up to 20 hours per week in care. Almost one in six spent 31 hours or more per week in childcare.
One-third of all children in childcare were cared for up to 10 hours per week.
A further 30% were in childcare for 11 to 20 hours per week.
Just over 12% of children under 15 years in childcare were minded for between 31 and 40 hours per week.
A further 5% were in childcare for 41 hours or more per week.
The three broad age cohorts used when analysing census childcare data are: pre-school (0 to 4 years), primary school (5 to 12 years) and secondary school (13 to 14 years).
Primary school children were most likely to be in some type of childcare (52%).
A crèche was the most common type of childcare used among 0 to 4 year olds. Over half (56%) used this childcare option and a further 19% used an unpaid relative or family member.
A third of children aged 5 to 12 were minded by an unpaid relative or family member with a further third being in a crèche/Montessori/playgroup or afterschool.
Children at secondary school age were most likely to be minded by an unpaid relative (64%).
Higher proportions of children in the pre-school (15%) and primary school (17%) age groups were minded in a childminder's home compared with older children (7%).
Almost 150,000 children of pre-school age were in childcare.
Among this age group, just under a third (44,260) were in childcare for 11 to 20 hours per week.
Over 60% of these were in a crèche or similar facility and 15% were minded by an unpaid relative or family member.
Over 13,000 children aged 0 to 4 attended childcare for 41 hours or more per week (9% of all pre-school aged children in childcare).
Almost 172,000 children of primary school age were in childcare.
Just over half of them (51%) were in childcare for 1 to 10 hours.
Among children in childcare between 1 and 10 hours per week, 35% were in a crèche, afterschool or similar facility with a further 32% being cared for by an unpaid relative or family member.
Of the 2,975 children attending childcare for 41 hours or more per week, over half were with an unpaid relative (55%) followed by 16% in a crèche, afterschool or similar facility. Just under 10% were with a paid relative.
The early secondary school age cohort recorded the smallest number of children in childcare (10,690).
Among this age group, 46% were in childcare for 1 to 10 hours.
The majority of children in childcare for 1 to 10 hours per week were minded by an unpaid relative or family member (64%) with a further 22% using a childminder (either outside or within the child’s home).
The number of childcare hours was not recorded for 31% of children in this age cohort; 71% of them were cared for by an unpaid relative or family member.
Socio-economic group classifies the population into categories based on the skill and educational attainment of their current or former occupation. Those not at work, unemployed or retired are classified to the socio-economic group of the person in the family on whom they are deemed to be dependent.
The largest parental socio-economic group of children in childcare was Employers & Managers.
The next most common groups were Lower Professional and Non-Manual.
Across all socio-economic groups, a crèche or similar facility was the most common type of childcare used, followed by an unpaid relative or family member.
Parents of children in childcare who were in the Higher Professional group were most likely (46%) to use a crèche or similar facility.
Among Employers & Managers, 44% of their children in childcare were in a crèche or similar facility.
Approximately 18% of Higher Professionals and 36% of parents in the Unskilled and Semi-Skilled groups had their children cared for by unpaid relatives or family members.
Farmers and Lower Professional groups were more likely to avail of a childminder (in the childminder’s home) than all other groups.
There were 7% of parents in the Semi-Skilled group who had their children cared for by a paid relative or family member; this was the highest proportion for this type of childcare among all socio-economic groups.
The highest proportion of parents of children in childcare who used an au pair/nanny/childminder (in the child's home) was among the Higher Professional group at 13%.
Over 60% of parents in the Unskilled socio-economic group used a crèche or similar facilities for their pre-school aged children (0 to 4 years), the highest proportion among all socio-economic groups.
Among parents of primary school aged children (5 to 12 years), those in the Higher Professional category had the highest percentage of children in a crèche, afterschool or similar facility and the lowest percentage of children cared for by an unpaid relative or family member.
For parents with secondary school aged children (13 to 14 years), the Farmers socio-economic group was most likely to use an afterschool facility while Agricultural Workers were most likely to avail of a paid relative or family member to provide childcare.
For census purposes, a family is defined as a couple with or without children, or a one-parent unit with one or more children. Family members must be usual residents of the relevant household.
Families comprised of a cohabiting couple with children and single mothers were most likely to use a crèche or similar facility (47%).
Compared with other family types, married couples were less likely to use an unpaid relative or family member.
Nearly one in five married couples used a childminder (in the childminder's home) compared with 13% of cohabiting couples.
An au pair/nanny/childminder (in the child's home) was more than twice as common among married couples (7%) than among cohabiting couples (3%).
Compared with other family types, one-parent father families were the least likely (39%) to use a crèche or similar facility and more likely to use an unpaid relative or family member.
Overall, all family types had small percentages of children aged 13 to 14 years in childcare.
Cohabiting couples with children was the family type most likely to have pre-school aged children in childcare (60%).
More than half of married couples had children of primary school age in childcare (54%).
Approximately 60% of one-parent father families and 57% of one-parent mother families had primary school aged children in childcare.
Compared with other family types, married couples with children were most likely to have their children in childcare for up to 10 hours per week.
At 65%, one-parent mother family units had the highest proportion of children in care for up to 20 hours per week. The proportion for one-parent father families was 62%.
Over one-fifth of cohabiting couples used childcare for over 31 hours per week compared with only 17% of married couples.
In contrast, 64% of children of married couples attended childcare for 20 hours or less compared with 57% of children of cohabiting couples.
Among children aged under 15 years in childcare, 94% had Irish citizenship.
The highest proportion of children in childcare was among Australian children (37%) followed by Irish (35%).
Less than one-fifth of Polish and Other Asian children were in childcare.
Of the selected citizenships in the graph below, Ukraine had the lowest percentage of children in childcare (16%).
In Census 2022, the two questions on long-lasting conditions and difficulties were revised. The information reported here was compiled from a range of categories in the questions relating to long-lasting conditions and difficulties and the extent to which they were experienced.
A total of 9,789 children in childcare reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent or a lot, accounting for 3% of children in childcare.
One in three children in this cohort were cared for by an unpaid relative or family member.
A further 2,960 or 30% of children who reported a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent or a lot attended a crèche or similar facility.
Of the children in childcare who reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent or a lot, 2,826 (29%) were aged 0 to 4 years.
A further 62% were aged 5 to 12 years and 9% were aged 13 to 14 years.
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