Less than 1% of work force in childcare

Cyprus was among 15 EU member states where the share of childcare workers and teachers’ aides was below 1 per cent of the total employed population, according to figures published by Eurostat.

These showed that in 2020, as in 2019, there were almost 2 million childcare workers and teachers’ aides employed in the EU. The majority of childcare workers and teachers’ aides were women (93 per cent).

The share of childcare workers and teachers’ aides as a percentage of the total employed population was 1.0 per cent in the EU in 2020.

Among the EU Member States, Denmark stood out with the largest share of people employed in this profession (3.3 per cent), followed by France and Ireland (both 2.3 per cent) and Portugal (2.2 per cent).

The lowest share was seen in Slovenia (0.1 per cent; low reliability), closely followed by Italy (0.2 per cent), Romania (0.3 per cent) and Greece (0.4 per cent).

Childhood is the stage at which education can most effectively influence children’s development, Eurostat noted.