They are less and less numerous in Moselle: the number of approved childminders is decreasing in the department, indicates the CAF. The Family Allowance Fund estimates that there are a little less than 3,500 who are active at the moment, compared to nearly 5,000 in 2017. This decrease comes, in part, from the fact that fewer candidates are pushing for the application. door to submit a CV: around a hundred people this year, there were up to a thousand around ten years ago. Also, “the age pyramid means that a very large number of childminders have reached retirement age and left“, explains the deputy director of the CAF of Moselle, in charge of social action, Sylvain David. This phenomenon concerns all of France.
More retirements, fewer candidates
In detail, 40% of childminders of the department are over 55 years old. Add to this a “decline in vocations” but also competition from Luxembourg with much higher salaries than in France. “The attraction effect of Luxembourg can play a role, but once again, beyond this local phenomenon which, certainly, is a reality, it is a national phenomenon and therefore does not only concern the Moselle.“For Sylvain David, this week for childminders in Moselle is a real opportunity to attract new candidates. “Over the years, the profession is no longer really known, a certain number of people who might want to get involved may have reservations. That is to say that the job can be scary: there are a certain number of responsibilities in looking after children. And then we can have the feeling or the risk of being isolated, and it's a vision that is a little outdated.“
CAF now intends to change the image of the profession to attract people, the sinews of war: “In recent years, there have been new ways of practicing the profession, explains Sylvain David. You have maternal assistance homes, in concrete terms these are professionals who, instead of looking after children at home, go, together, in a room set up for this purpose, to practice their profession which makes it possible to break the phenomenon of isolation and to strengthen the sharing of professional practices.“In the same vein, there are also the”early childhood relays, which have, in particular, a role to play in meeting the needs of families who would like to know the childcare options in their area“, explains Sylvain David. Knowing that all parts of the Moselle are affected by the problem.
Towards a shortage of childminders?
With the drop in the number of childminders and the number of candidates to replace them in Moselle, Are we heading towards a shortage in the department? “We are not at that stageestimates the deputy director of CAF Moselle. That is to say that currently, in the department, there are still nearly 6,300 children under 3 years old who are looked after, welcomed by a childminder, so we are far from, let's say, a desert medical or municipalities without places.“
