The annual National Childminding Association survey of 1,000 of itsmembers selected at random, carried out by OMB research, also found thatjust under three-quarters of childminders had undertaken childcaretraining in the past 12 months.
The number qualified to level 3 has risen to 41 per cent from 29 percent in 2007.
Most childminders were aged between 35 and 44, with just 1 per centunder the age of 25. Sixty-five per cent had worked in childminding forat least three years and 24 per cent more than ten years.
The sector is also recruiting new childminders, with 15 per cent ofrespondents registering in the past 12 months.
The survey also revealed that 35 per cent of childminders had vacantplaces they wanted to fill, but in most cases these were filled withinsix months.
Three-quarters of childminders worked for at least 30 hours a week,suggesting that childminding was their full-time job. The mean hourlyfee was 3.54 per child.
Just over half of those surveyed had an annual childminding turnover ofless than 7,000. Of these, 34 per cent said they were inhouseholds with a total annual income of less than 15,000,suggesting that the vast majority of childminders contributesignificantly to their household income.
NCMA chief executive Liz Bayram said, 'Once again the survey's strongmessage is that the majority of our members are investing in their owntraining and development, working hard to continuously improve theservice they offer to children and their families, and doing so despitemany of them working long hours and for relatively low reward.'
More than half of all childminders questioned were not aware of or donot have access to a quality improvement scheme, such as NCMA's ChildrenCome First. Ms Bayram said the NCMA would continue to work withGovernment and local authorities in England and Wales to improve accessto networks so that every childminder who wanted to could be in one.