EARLY years providers are struggling to fill available spaces because of a “lower demand” for childcare services resulting from a falling birth rate, a survey has indicated.
The 2025 Childcare Provider Survey has found that 60% of childminders and “almost half” of the registered childcare providers in Jersey reported issues filling their spaces last year.
The research report, prepared for the Childcare and Early Years Service by local research agency 4insight, was published on 10 September.
It was commissioned to help “provide information on the capacity of the sector”, while giving the government a “picture of the workforce and the key challenges faced by providers”.
The survey found that the number of children booked to attend childcare and early years settings was 170 lower in 2025 than 2024 – with registered childminders and accredited nannies also seeing a fall in bookings over the same time period.
Additionally, a third of registered childcare providers for children under the age of five said they “expected to have more capacity” by September 2026.
Asked to list their “key challenges”, childcare providers cited “inadequate staffing” and a “lower birth rate meaning there is lower demand for spaces”.
Published in January 2026, Policy Centre Jersey’s report into the Island’s early-years found that the falling birth rate in Jersey “directly reduces demand for early years provision”.
The report made reference to figures, previously published by the Public Health Department, that just 711 babies were born to Jersey resident mothers in 2025 – the lowest annual figure recorded since at least 1995.
“There has been a sharp decline in births in Jersey in recent years,” it stated. “This directly reduces demand for early years provision and creates surplus capacity in primary schools.”
The same report found that average childcare costs in the Island are approximately 50% above those in England and about 12% above London levels – an observation that was borne out in the fees section of the Childcare Providers Survey published last week.
The survey stated that the average fees charged by registered childminders increased by £0.90 per hour – a margin of 10%.
It also said that 100% of registered childcare providers that responded to the survey confirmed that they had raised their fees for the third consecutive year.
The Policy Centre Jersey report previously concluded that high childcare costs were a “major barrier” for many parents in Jersey.
“Reducing these costs can significantly increase female labour-force participation, yielding several economic benefits,” the report said.
