The childcare market - France (2024)

1.2 A booming global market

The childcare market is estimated at ***.** billion in ****, with a compound annual growth rate (***) of **.**% between **** and ****. The most developed market is the United States, with an estimated **.** billion in ****. This large market share is partly explained by the ** million single-parent families in the United States, and by the investments made by certain federal governments to support this sector. The market is developing particularly in Asia and Oceania, and much less so in South America and Africa-Middle East.

growth in global childcare sales World, ****-****, in billions of euros Source: ****

The pandemic has had a significant impact on the market, especially for young children, with many establishments closing. In the UK, for example, **% of early childhood education and care centers were closed during the covid period. However, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the market is likely to grow in the future, not least because of theincrease in the number of single-parent families worldwide and thegrowing demand for childcare.

Looking at Europe as a whole, in France in ****, **.*% of the population will be aged ** or over, a proportion that has been rising for over ** years, marking an aging population since ****. This trend is common to all European Union countries. In ...

1.3 A growing domestic market

As of January *ᵉʳ, ****, France will have * million children under the age of * and *.* million under the age of *. The younger the children, the more important it is for parents to find suitable childcare solutions and professionals available to awaken the children. Under the age of six months, the vast majority of babies are looked after by their parents, but after this age, families need reliable childcare solutions. By ****, the supply of formal childcare- i.e. any childcare solution other than parents or paid babysitters - for the under-*s is estimated at *.* million places. Nearly half of all children under * will be in formal care by ****. Despite a sharp drop in births in recent years, and particularly in ****, the home childcare sector in France remains robust and generates many jobs. [***]

Estimating the exact size of the childcare market can be difficult, as it is segmented into several quite distinct markets: crèches, home helps, childminders... In addition, undeclared work, although declining, still accounts for almost half of market activity. [TousEntrepreneurswe can nevertheless give the sizes of the various internal markets to estimate the size of the childcare market. According to Le Prix du Berceau, the day nursery industry generated sales of ...

2.1 Annual births in France continue to fall sharply

Births in France In ****, around ***,*** births were registered in France, representing a sharp drop of *.*% compared to ****. Since ****, the number of births in France has fallen steadily each year, except for a rebound observed in ****. Between **** and ****, the average annual decline in the number of newborns was -*.*%, accelerating to -*.*% in **** and -*.*% in ****, resulting in total births approximately **% lower than in ****.

Annual number of births in France France, ****-****, in thousands Source: ****

The change in the number of births is mainly due to two factors. The first is the number of women of childbearing age, which fell between **** and ****. However, the female population aged between ** and ** has remained stable since ****. The second factor is fertility, which has also declined. Thetotal fertility rate (***) is obtained by summing the age-specific fertility rates for a given year. More intuitively, it forecasts the average number of children a woman could have in her lifetime if the fertility rates observed in the year in question at each age remained unchanged. the TFR, which measures the average fertility of women in a given year, fell between **** and ****, and in **** will stand at *.** children per woman, down from *.** in ****. Since the Second World War, this indicator ...

2.2 EAJEs and childminders, the main childcare options for the French

obviously, the vast majority of parents on maternity or paternity leave don't turn to outside childcare solutions. But once they return to work, if they decide to do so, there are many options for looking after their baby and possibly other children. For young parents or parents of several children, the mental burden of looking after their family and home is often a complex one to take on, all the more so for single-parent families, and some childcare solutions also offer to relieve them in addition to looking after the children.

A clear understanding of the different childcare solutions available, depending on the child's age, is a prerequisite for understanding the following statistics. So we've put them together in a table, distinguishing between in-home and out-of-home childcare solutions.

Childcare options age of children Special features In-home care Help at home all ages Personal service, employee who can be hired directly or through an organization Au pair* employee all ages French or foreign employee, not necessarily a student, paid in kind (***) Foreign live-in caregiver or au pair* trainee over * years old foreign student, remunerated in kind (***) and pocket money, recruited by an approved placement agency Outside childcare Day nursery or EAJE* *-* ...

3.1 Value chain

3.2 The different types of player

In France, education is compulsory from the age of three, which is particularly young compared with other European countries. For childcare, a distinction is therefore made between childcare for children under three, for children aged * to *, and for children over six, at which age certain care solutions are no longer authorized, such as drop-in daycare. The different types of offer adapted to different ages are summarized in the Offer Analysis section later in the study. Here are the specifics of the main players in the childcare market.

Nursery assistants: independent or MAM

Maternal assistants are distinguished by their special legal status as multi-employer employees. This status has its shortcomings, as it does not offer them all the rights of salaried employees, particularly in terms of access to training and occupational medicine. Most childminders work in their own homes, as direct employees of their parents. A smaller proportion work in Maisons d'Assistantes Maternelles (***) or in the public sector. They are authorized to look after between one and four children simultaneously, aged between three months and three years, as part of their accreditation. In ****, there were ***,*** licensed childminders working in France. The profession is almost exclusively feminine, with **.*% women.

In-home childcare: freelancers or ...

3.3 Market size and breakdown

The childcare sector is hiring more and more people every year, and is becoming increasingly diversified in terms of companies, as the market is gradually being conquered by private companies.

number of companies and number of employees in the childcare sector France, ****-****, in thousands, in thousands Source: ****

In France (***), in ****, there will be *.* million places in formal childcare, i.e. childminders, ECEC, schools and home childcare, a figure that is almost stable compared to the previous year.

Breakdown of supply by main types of childcare France, in ****, in thousands of places, as a % of the total Source: ****

There has been a decline in the number of childminders in recent years, offset by an increase in the authorized number of children per childminder. This loss of places has also been offset by an increase in the number of EAJE places, mainly due to Paje funding for **,*** micro-crèche places. Even so, these remain a very small minority of the total number of places available in crèches, despite the fact that PSU crèches account for **% of the total.

This staff shortage is partly due to the very low salaries of early childhood professionals, coupled with a lack of recognition in ...

3.4 Government assistance

Source: ****

4.1 An extremely diversified offering to meet the needs of families

In-home childcare encompasses a variety of tasks and services to meet the daily and specific needs of children and parents:

Source: ****

The asterisks * indicate the childcare services included in this study

Among the various services on offer, home help services and childminders provide additional assistance with home maintenance, childcare... Here are just a few of the services on offer:

Daily needs :

Toileting, dressing and undressing. Getting in and out of bed, and managing naps. Preparation and distribution of snacks or balanced meals.

Activities:

Participation in children's awakening and development. Leading edutainment activities. Accompany children to crèche, school or extra-curricular activities. Organization of outings, such as to the park, garden, toy library or museum.

Housework and meals (***):

Tidying up and cleaning toys, clothes and childcare equipment. Complete housekeeping and laundry. Grocery shopping. Meal preparation.

Special needs :

Care adapted for large families. Management of variable or atypical schedules. Help with homework. Grandparent care. introduction to a foreign language of your choice.

[***]

4.2 Some prices

The price of most childcare solutions varies with the income of the parent(***).

Source: ****

This table shows the out-of-pocket expenses in **** for a dual-income family, depending on the type of childcare for a full-time child, after tax credit.

it should be noted that the net out-of-pocket expenses in **** for these families are more or less the same for nursery care , and vary slightly around *%, but decrease significantly with family salary for other types of care.

The average price of out-of-home childcare has risen by **% since ****.

evolution of the average price of out-of-home childcare services, compared to **** France, ****-****, in Source: ****

4.3 Industry trends

There has been an evolution in the offer to adapt to the latest expectations of parents when it comes to childcare. First of all, some homecare and crèche franchises have developed their own training programs to offset the staff shortage affecting the sector. Family Sphère, for example, has invested in its own training program, as has Callihop, a micro-creche chain that has opened its own training school.

The market is also becoming increasingly flexible and adaptable to parents' needs, to match the decline in the use of childcare, a change mainly observed in large cities and conurbations and attributable to the impact of covid and the rise of telecommuting. As a result, some companies are offering new services to look after children during telecommuting meetings or for extracurricular activities. We are also seeing the development of hourly consumption , which parents can use à la carte. Parents are also increasingly looking for ways to awaken their children.

Parents increasingly expect individualized care for their children and greater transparency in the management of day-care centers. This trend follows the revelations of the book Le prix du berceau, written by Daphné Gastaldi and Mathieu Perisse in ****, which reveals the shocking underbelly of ...

5.1 The 2017 Finance Act

The **** Finance Act introduced measures to encourage the employment of home-based employees by offering significant tax benefits. This part of the law enabled individual employers to benefit from a tax reduction equivalent to **% of the expenses incurred for the employment of a home-based employee, up to certain ceilings. In practical terms, this means that taxpayers can deduct from their income tax a portion of the costs associated with employing a domestic worker, such as salaries, social security charges and travel expenses. This measure has had a positive impact on the economy by encouraging job creation in the personal services sector, while easing the financial burden on individual employers. By promoting employment in this field, the **** Finance Act has helped to boost the labor market and support families in their home assistance needs.

As a result, parents employing a home-based childminder or nanny were able to benefit from a substantial tax reduction for childcare, up to a ceiling set by law. Families were able to benefit from significant financial support for the costs of home childcare, making it easier for them to reconcile work and family life. This measure has encouraged the use of home childcare services, offering children a familiar and ...

5.2 Day-care regulations

Decree n°****-**** of August **, ****

Decree no. ****-**** of August **, **** on childcare assistants and childcare establishments is an important measure concerning childcare assistants and childcare establishments. This decree aims to reinforce the quality of care for young children by regulating more precisely the conditions of practice of maternal assistants and childcare establishments. It introduces a number of significant changes, notably with regard to supervision ratios, i.e. the maximum number of children that can be accommodated in relation to the number of adults present. The decree sets ratios adapted to the age range of the children cared for, thus guaranteeing more individualized and secure care. The decree also reinforces the qualification and training requirements for childminders. In particular, it imposes mandatory pre-service training as well as regular in-service training, thus guaranteeing a high level of professionalism and competence among early childhood professionals. The text also regulates the material conditions under which children are cared for, imposing strict safety and hygiene standards in childcare establishments. It also lays down rules for the layout of play and rest areas, to promote children's development and well-being.

Decree no. ****-**** of August **, **** on approved childcare assistants is another important measure concerning approved childcare assistants. This ...

5.3 Regulations governing childminders

Convention collective nationale des particuliers employeurs et de l'emploi à domicile (***)

The national collective agreement for individual employers and home-based employment, which came into force on January *, ****, brings together the rules applicable to employees working in the homes of individual employers. It aims to simplify and clarify the rights and obligations of employers and employees. The main points of the agreement include working hours, remuneration, paid leave, working and safety conditions, and termination of the employment contract. The agreement also includes specific provisions for childminders, notably concerning childcare conditions, maintenance allowances and remuneration. In short, this agreement aims to guarantee fair and secure working conditions for employees working in the homes of private employers, while preserving the specific features of each profession.

LAW no. ****-*** of June **, **** on maternal and family assistants

LOI n° ****-*** du ** juin **** relative aux assistants maternels et aux assistants familiaux is a French law governing the professions of maternal assistant and family assistant. The law aims to improve the conditions under which children entrusted to these professionals are cared for. It lays down precise rules concerning the conditions for approval of maternal and family assistants, as well as quality criteria for childcare facilities. Maternal assistants are professionals ...

6.1 Player segmentation

Here are some of the major players in the sector, with their particularities and sales figures.

Source: ****

• Babychou Services
• Family Sphère
• Poppinou
• Baby Sittor
• Kidlee
• BSIT
• Yoopies
• Babilou Groupe
• Grandir Groupe -Les petits chaperons rouges
• People and Baby (Holding)
• La Maison Bleue
• O2
• Kangourou Kids
• Callihop
• Famihero