Guide to Childcare in the UK

Working parents have many important decisions to make while trying to successfully balance work with home life. Finding high quality, affordable childcare from a whole host of options is by far one of the biggest stresses.

We have outlined below the typical childcare choices available to working parents in the UK.

Maternity nurses

Maternity nurses look after mums and their new baby from birth until around six weeks after birth. They can help working mums get the baby into a routine and teach them how to care for a newborn. Maternity nurses offer a 24-hour service, usually for six days out of seven.

Nannies and nanny shares

Nannies look after children in the parents' home, offering individual care. Nannies offer a complete care package as they also clean and cook for the children. They may live in or out. It's also possible to share a nanny with another family to reduce costs. My Family Care works with NannyShare.co.uk to offer a reduced rate to our clients.

Childminders

Childminders look after children in their own home. They are often parents themselves, and will care for small groups of children who play and have their meals in their home.

Day nurseries

Day nurseries are daycare centres where babies and children go with others to play and learn in an age-based environment. Nurseries follow a curriculum and provide theme based activities.

Mother's helps

A mother's help tends to work with the mother, as their name suggests, rather than unsupervised, in a variety of duties. Their role is to backup parents rather than take sole control, and they would expect to do the jobs that a mother or father at home would do. This would include shopping and cleaning.

Au pairs

Au pairs are usually foreign nationals who come and stay in the family home in order to learn English. In return for board and lodging and a small amount of pocket money, they will help for up to 25 hours a week with cleaning and childcare. They usually care for children from the age of three to 14 years.

School aged children

As children grow older, other childcare options start to present themselves, all of which have an educational element to them.

Pre-schools - These offer part-time care to children between the ages of three and five. They may also offer places to two year olds. They normally offer sessions lasting about 150 minutes. At pre-school children will prepare for their start at school through a combination of learning and play.

Nursery schools and classes - Nursery schools provide early learning and childcare for children between three and five years old (some will take children from two-and-a-half). They are often linked to an infant or primary school.

Out of school clubs - These offer childcare in a friendly and stimulating environment to school aged children before and after school and during holidays.