Children still spend more time with grandparents than in daycare centres, according to the latest statistics.

In 2012, a total of 12,403 children spent an average of six hours at daycare centres and 12,056 spent an average of 17 hours a week being cared for by grandparents or other relatives or friends, according to the National Statistics Office.

Granny-sitting hours are actually on the rise, despite the increase in childcare facilities.

A year earlier, in 2011, children spent an average of 14 hours with their grandparent – three hours less.

The figures correlate to the latest study by the Centre for Labour Studies at the University of Malta, which indicated the idea of sending children to a childcare centre had negative connotations such as the feeling that parents would be abandoning their children rather than giving them their full attention.

Study author Anna Borg said that when it came to childcare, 65 per cent of respondents preferred to look after their children themselves rather than send them to a centre.

The report states that 42 per cent said they would have their mind at rest if their child was at a childcare centre.

“They feel that if they do not take care of the children themselves, they are not good mothers,” said Dr Borg.

Overall, 63 per cent believed childcare centres should only be used for a few hours a day and, out of the sample of 600, only 36 used them.

Less than half the respondents – 39 per cent – were interested in seeing more childcare centres opening.

“This is possibly because they took care of their children themselves and, therefore, they were not interested in this service.”

The figures were based on a study commissioned by the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality in 2012 before the advent of free childcare in April 2014.

“This may give you some insight into the perceptions of Maltese mothers who are not active in the labour market on the use of childcare,” Dr Borg went on.

“This study suggests cultural barriers may still hinder a substantial amount of inactive mothers from using childcare centres.

“However, with the availability of free childcare in Malta from April 1, it needs to be seen whether such negative perceptions will change and whether inactive mothers will get rid of their guilt feeling and start using them more.”