There has been a fall in the number of children using parental childcare between the years 2007 and 2016. The decrease is larger among primary school children (from 81% to 74%) than among pre-school children (from 64% to 62%).  See Table 1 and Figure 1.

 Some 88% of pre-school children use a single type of childcare, with 12% using more than one. In 2007, the corresponding figures were 93% and 7% respectively. A single type of childcare is used by 91% of primary school children, while more than one is used by 9% of primary school children. The corresponding figures for 2007 were 98% (one type of childcare) and 2% (more than one type of childcare). See table 2.

The percentage of pre-school children that are minded by their parent is 62%. The corresponding figure for primary school children is 74%. The most commonly used non-parental childcare type for pre-school children is a crèche/Montessori/playgroup/after-school facility. This type of care is used by 19% of pre-school children, with the highest rate of use in Dublin (25%). The most commonly used type of non-parental childcare for primary school children nationally is an unpaid relative or family friend (16%). The highest rate is in the Border region (21%). See table 3.