Parental decisions about childcare for children aged 9 months to 2 years old: summary

Childcare for children aged 9 months to 2 years old plays a critical role in supporting early development, enabling parental employment and promoting equitable outcomes for families (Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care Plan in Wales 2024; Department for Education 2025; Bucelli and McKnight 2022).

This review was conducted as part of a doctoral 3-month internship within the Welsh Government and was commissioned to provide timely insights into what factors influence parental decisions around formal childcare use for children aged 9 months to 2 years. The review synthesises existing UK and international literature to identity themes, highlight barriers and enablers of formal childcare use, and inform future policy development in Wales. The aim is not to predict parental decision-making behaviours, but to provide a thematic overview of the current evidence base and identify areas where further research and policy attention may be warranted.

The review focused on English language literature published in a 10-year timeframe, from 2015 to 2025 to ensure relevance and manage the scope of the review, whilst capturing the evolving landscape of early years childcare policy in Wales. The review included materials from scholarly journals, commissioned reports by government departments and think-tanks. Evidence that related to the Welsh context was prioritised, but due to evidence gaps, findings from other UK nations and international studies are also included where they offer transferable insights into parental-decision making or early childcare systems. Additionally, particular attention was given to studies that explored the experiences of families with children under the age of 3, however, some studies covered a broader range of ages.

After relevance and data-based screening, 43 unique studies were identified and used to inform this evidence review.

Affordability of childcare

Affordability of childcare was found to be one of the most consistently reported and significant factors shaping parental decisions about childcare for children aged 9 months to 2 years. Evidence indicates that affordability was found to have far-reaching implications for family wellbeing and labour market participation with the high cost of formal childcare leading to parents delaying or reducing their use of childcare provision, adjusting their employment plans, or exiting the workforce altogether. For families with children under the age of 3, who often do not qualify for universal funded hours, affordability barriers are particularly acute.

Across nations, evidence suggests that despite preferences for formal childcare, some parents have turned to informal childcare, provided by grandparents and friends because formal childcare was too expensive.

This evidence review highlights that without substantial and accessible financial support, many parents are either unable or reluctant to utilise formal childcare during their children's earliest years. This can affect maternal employment, children’s developmental opportunities, and reinforce broader patterns of socioeconomic inequality.

Accessing childcare

Access and availability emerge as the most cited factors influencing parental decisions about formal childcare use for children aged under 3.

Availability and practical constraints

Findings from the review highlight availability and practical constraints such as:

• issues with availability of provision for the early years
• disproportionately limited provision in disadvantaged areas
• lack of appropriate spaces and year long waiting lists
• age eligibility restrictions that do not meet parents’ needs

These constraints can be particularly pronounced for disadvantaged and migrant families, highlighting how intersecting factors such as migration background and socio-economic status can create barriers to childcare, a pattern which may also be relevant in a Welsh context. The review suggests that availability of childcare alone does not guarantee equitable access. Ensuring equitable access aligns with the ambitions of the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan which includes actions to improve inclusivity and cultural responsiveness in childcare settings and addresses structural inequalities affecting ethnic minority families.

The inflexibility of formal childcare

The review found that parents struggled with temporal and spatial constraints. Rigid hours and limited flexibility mean that formal childcare settings often fail to accommodate the needs of working parents, particularly those who work full-time and irregular hours, such as night shifts and weekends (Dallimore, 2016; Doorley et al, 2023). Evidence suggests that structural rigidity of formal childcare not only limits access but actively shapes parental preferences, often pushing families towards informal care or partial uptake of entitlements.

Administrative complexity

An additional body of evidence highlights how confusion, unclear eligibility rules, and poor communication pose significant barriers to accessing formal childcare, particularly for families with infants. These issues were found to be especially pronounced for ethnic minority and socio-economically disadvantaged families, who often faced additional barriers such as language difference, digital exclusion, and a lack of culturally appropriate and multilingual information.

Findings suggest that even when childcare support is technically available, families may be unable to make fully informed decisions about it without clear and accessible information.

Complex application processes

Studies highlighted how confusion around eligibility, inconsistent communication, and burdensome application processes for government funded childcare and support, can contribute to delayed or forgone use of childcare, especially among disadvantaged families.

Findings from the review suggest that improving access is not solely about increasing provision, but also about simplifying systems, clarifying funded childcare entitlements, and ensuring that families are supported through the process of navigating childcare. Without these improvements, decisions about whether, and when, to use formal childcare will remain shaped more by structural barriers than by parental choice.

Parental values, beliefs and preferences

Perceived developmental benefits

Findings from across nations suggest that developmental motivations, including socialisation, emotional well-being and early language acquisition, are increasingly central to parental decision-making, even for children under the age of 3.

Other studies have explored how cultural and linguistic values shape perceptions of developmental benefits in childcare. Given the Welsh Government’s strategic commitments to promoting bilingualism from the earliest stages of childhood, as outlined in the Early Childhood Play, Learning and Care Plan (2024), it is plausible that Welsh parents may similarly perceive bilingual childcare as developmentally beneficial. While the empirical research on parental motivations for choosing Welsh medium childcare as a developmental benefit remains limited, the policy direction indicates growing emphasis on bilingualism as a core component of early years childcare.

Trust, culture and connection in childcare settings

Studies reviewed illustrate that for many families, particularly those from marginalised or culturally diverse backgrounds, trust, cultural alignment, and emotional connection are core determinants of formal childcare quality and uptake. While structural features such as cost or opening hours matter, they are often evaluated through relational lens. Families seek not just access to care, but access to care that respects who they are, their values and their traditions, and builds trusting relationships with their children. Some studies reviewed allow us to keep in mind how future policy and practice in formal childcare should attend to these dimensions of services to be truly inclusive and responsive to the communities they aim to serve.

Preference for informal childcare

Another consistent theme across the literature is parental preference for informal childcare, particularly childcare provided by grandparents and other trusted relatives. This preference is not simply a response to limited access to formal childcare, but often reflects deeper values related to trust, emotional security, and family bonding.

Studies reviewed highlight the importance of recognising informal childcare as a legitimate and often preferred component of family life, particularly in contexts where formal systems are either inaccessible or culturally less accepted.

This rapid evidence review synthesises current UK and international research on the factors that shape parental decision-making around formal childcare use for children aged 9 months to 2 years. Access and availability were the most consistently evidenced and structurally significant factors, highlighting how limited provision, age restrictions, and administrative complexity, constrain parental choices. Other key themes such as affordability, perceived developmental benefits, trust and cultural alignment, with preferences for informal care also featured prominently.

Taken together, the evidence indicates that improving access to formal childcare requires more than expanding provision. It demands attention to system design, including simplifying administration processes, clarifying funded childcare entitlements, and ensuring culturally responsive and emotionally supportive environments. Without these improvements, decisions about whether and when to use formal childcare will continue to be shaped by more systemic limitations than by genuine parental choice.

The report suggests that future research should explore how Welsh parents navigate the themes identified in the evidence review, particularly in relation to new entitlements and bilingual provision (Flying Start expansion and Cymraeg 2050). More targeted studies on the 9 months to 2 years old age group would help to clarify early childcare decision-making and how policy could better support families during this stage.

Report author: Maddison Wright

Views expressed in this report are those of the researchers and not necessarily those of the Welsh Government.

For further information please contact:

Children and Families Research Team
Equality, Poverty and Children Evidence Support Division
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

Email: Research.ChildrenAndFamilies@gov.wales

Social research number: 30/2026
Digital ISBN: 978-1-83745-163-0