Young children still stay home or with nanna

The vast majority of Maltese children under five years of age stay at home with their mothers or with their grandparents instead of attending childcare centres, according to figures released by Eurostat.

With only eight per cent of children under three attending childcare centres during 2006, the Maltese rank among the least to make use of such services in Europe, the figures show. The EU average stands at 26 per cent.

Among the children of this age group who do use childcare centres, more than half attend for less than 29 hours a week.

Even though the numbers grow when it comes to children aged between three and five years, Malta still ranks at the end of the scale when compared to the other EU member states. In 2006, just 57 per cent of children in that age bracket attended formal childcare with the rest either staying at home or with their grandparents. Again, the EU average here stands at 84 per cent.

The only other countries in the EU with more children in this age bracket not attending formal childcare facilities were Lithuania and Poland.

For children younger than three the highest percentages of attendees were recorded in Denmark (73 per cent), the Netherlands (45 per cent) and Sweden (44 per cent), and the lowest in the Czech Republic and Poland (both at two per cent).

For children aged three to compulsory school age, the highest proportions were observed in Belgium (98 per cent), Denmark (96 per cent) and France (94 per cent).

The statistics for Malta tally with the results of a local survey which showed that 68.2 per cent of respondents believe mothers and grandmothers are the best form of childcare.

Only a quarter put their trust in formal childcare services, according to the survey report by Economic and Management Consultancy Services.

Studies abroad have shown that going to good-quality pre-school childcare heightens the chances of academic achievement later in school.