Just when many hoped childcare was becoming easier to manage, it has re-emerged as a serious barrier for women who want to start a business. The nature of the problem has changed. A decade ago, the main obstacle was cost. Today, even founders who have budgeted carefully and claimed every available subsidy are discovering that there are not enough registered childcare places to go round. Supply has become the crisis.

Business support providers see this pattern repeatedly. A woman arrives with a strong idea, a business plan and the determination to make it work, then stalls because she cannot secure reliable childcare during the hours she needs. The issue is no longer simply whether she can afford it; it is whether a suitable place exists at all.

From a cost problem to a supply crisis

There is no question that UK childcare remains expensive. The Coram Family and Childcare Survey 2024 found that the average cost of a part-time nursery place for a child under two in England is now £152.95 per week, while a part-time childminder place averages £150.89 per week. For school-age children, an after-school club costs around £70.40 per week. Over a year, a part-time nursery place can exceed £7,950, a heavy burden for anyone trading a salary for unpredictable start-up income. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland operate their own funding schemes, but surveys show similar cost and availability pressures across the UK.

Yet cost is only part of the picture. The same survey shows that just 28% of English local authorities report enough childcare for children aged 0-1, down from 46% in 2022. For one- and two-year-olds, only 40% of local authorities say they have enough places. In many areas, parents who have saved, secured business funding and planned their working hours still cannot find a provider with a vacancy.

Why registered childcare places are disappearing

The shortage is driven by a long-term decline in registered childminders. According to Ofsted data, there were around 27,500 registered childminders in England in 2023, roughly half the number recorded in 2010. The sector has lost thousands more since the pandemic, as early years practitioners left for better-paid, less stressful work.

Several factors are squeezing supply. Early years settings face rising energy, food and insurance costs, while staff wages remain low. Many childminders and nursery workers report that government-funded hours are not paid at a rate that covers the true cost of delivery. The expansion of funded childcare, which began in April 2024 with 15 hours a week for two-year-olds and will extend to children from nine months old by September 2025, is welcome for parents but risks increasing pressure on providers unless funding rates rise.

Regulation has also shaped the market. The Early Years Foundation Stage was revised in 2021 to reduce some of the paperwork that previously burdened childminders, and in September 2023 the optional staff-to-child ratio for two-year-olds in England was relaxed from 1:4 to 1:5. Even so, many providers say these measures do not offset recruitment difficulties and underfunding.

Informal childcare: what the rules say now

The 2009 case of two police officers told their reciprocal childcare arrangement breached the Childcare Act 2006 caused a national row. The rules have since been clarified. In England, you do not need to register as a childminder if you are looking after a friend’s children without payment or reward, provided the arrangement is genuinely informal. Registration is only required if you are caring for children under eight for more than two hours a day and receiving a reward, which can include money or services.

That clarification matters, but it does not solve the supply problem for business support programmes. Training providers, incubators and enterprise agencies often need to use registered carers to satisfy insurance, safeguarding and funding rules. When registered childminders are scarce, those programmes cannot simply fall back on informal networks.

What this means for women starting a business

The practical impact is clear. Women founders may delay launching, restrict themselves to evening or home-based work, or abandon a business idea altogether. It also narrows the type of businesses women can build: those that fit around school hours and holidays, rather than those with the greatest growth potential.

The loss is economic as well as personal. Childminding itself was once a common route into self-employment for women. As their numbers fall, the UK loses not only childcare places but also a source of female-led microbusinesses.

Practical steps for founders and support providers

• Claim every subsidy. Check eligibility for Tax-Free Childcare, which can be worth up to £2,000 per child per year, and for Universal Credit childcare support, which can cover up to 85% of costs for eligible working parents.
• Use your local Family Information Service. Every local authority in England maintains a list of registered childcare providers, including childminders with current vacancies.
• Explore flexible models. Some co-working spaces and business centres now offer on-site childcare or parent-and-work sessions. These remain rare, so demand helps justify expansion.
• Build childcare into business planning. When applying for start-up finance, include realistic childcare costs and contingency time in your cash-flow forecast.
• Advocate for change. Join business networks that lobby for funded childcare rates that cover costs and for better pay and conditions in the early years workforce.

Conclusion

Childcare is no longer just a family logistics issue. It is a structural barrier to women’s enterprise. Until the UK has enough affordable, accessible childcare places, business support providers and policymakers must treat it as a core economic issue, not an afterthought.