Rose Porter, Public Policy Manager at Coram PACEY 

At Coram PACEY, we champion home-based childcare and early education, including the vital work of nannies. While recent government policy in England has rightly sharpened the focus on early education and childcare for families – and the role that nurseries, preschools, and childminders play in delivering this – nannies too often remain overlooked in these discussions. 

The role of nannies 

In the modern age, families working patterns and needs are changing and flexible childcare arrangements are more sought after than ever. Nannies can be a great choice for parents working irregular or ad-hoc hours that do not align with traditional childcare settings. Many also have particular specialisations that can be valuable in providing one-to-one support for a child with specific or complex needs.  

Nannies’ roles are diverse and highly adaptable, but the sector is complicated by a lack of regulation. While some choose to register voluntarily with official bodies such as Ofsted there is no consistent requirement or framework for training, qualifications or quality standards across this part of the workforce.  

What did we find?  

Coram PACEY recently carried out a survey of over 100 nannies to find out more about their roles, experiences, and the challenges they face. Thank you to all those  who responded – your insights help us better understand how we can support nannies and advocate for the profession as part of our policy and advocacy work, as well as enhance our membership offer for nannies.  

Our findings include: 

• 64% said they are employed directly by families, 23% self-employed and 13% a mix of both. Two-thirds said they are registered with a nanny agency. 

• 77% work as a nanny as their only job, while 21% work in the early years sector (5% as a childminder) and 9% in a role outside the sector.  

• The majority (56%) work for only one family, 22% work for 2 families and 17% more than three.  

• 56% have been a nanny for over 10 years.  

• 97% of nannies described their role as rewarding or very rewarding and 81% intend to continue nannying as a long-term career.  

• Despite this, more than 8 in 10 said they do not feel integrated within the wider early years sector. 

• 88% are in favour of tighter regulations for nannies 

What are we calling for?  

Coram PACEY is calling for tighter regulation of nannies to improve professionalism, raise standards and quality and bring them more closely aligned with the wider education sector.  We have been having conversations with Ofsted and the Department for Education about the Childcare Register and what kind of improvements we’d like to see.  

In the longer-term, we would like to see registered nannies included in financial support schemes so that parents can access funded childcare through nannies in the same way they can for Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit support.   

Coram PACEY nanny support 

Coram PACEY memberships are tailored to meet the needs of those working in early years and childcare, including nannies.  Our memberships include free training and resources, regular communications and policy updates, webinars and events, discounted products, access to a dedicated support helpline and more.  

Nanny members in England can access a range of sample policies updated for 2025 and specific to nannies to help you demonstrate to families how you will care for their children. This covers topics from administering medication, accident, incident and emergency, safeguarding, risk assessment and more.   

Many of our blogs, news and resources accessible free on our website are relevant for nannies. We recently published dedicated resources for nannies with many more to come! 

• Our latest nanny blog looks at the advantages and considerations of being a registered nanny 

• Our new resource ‘Nanny – employed or self-employed?‘ helps you understand roles, rules, and remuneration for employed and self-employed nannies. 

If you would like to get in touch with our Policy Team please send an email to policy@corampacey.org.uk.