When both parents work, they can choose from a variety of childcare options in Luxembourg: nurseries, mini-crèches, after-school care centres, or registered childminders, also known as parental assistants. Childminders operate as independent professionals under the Ministry of Education, which has now put forward draft law No. 8686 to introduce several changes from January onwards.
Currently, the Chèque-Service Accueil (CSA) scheme covers €5.40 per child per hour, but childminders can set higher rates, with parents paying the difference themselves.
Susanna Maria Ferreira Martins has worked as a childminder since 1 May 2025 and charges €7.40 per hour, explaining that only the time spent directly with children is billable, not the hours spent on preparation, organisation, or tasks like meal preparation.
Her fee also factors in additional expenses, such as occasional treats for children, like an ice cream when out, which have to be paid from her own pocket and are not reimbursed.
If the Ministry’s reform comes into effect as scheduled on 1 January 2027, the rates will change. While the CSA currently covers €5.40 per child per hour, the reform would see childminder pay scaled according to their qualifications, divided into three levels. This could mean higher fees for some childminders, but lower for others, depending on their classification.
A key innovation is the plan to index these rates and introduce a compensation mechanism to ensure more stable income for childminders.
Susanna Maria Ferreira Martins sees both sides of the reform, because she is a mother herself and understands that, while parents want to pay less, childminders also have to account for extra costs they pay themselves.
Having previously worked in a crèche, she found she did not have enough time for each child and groups were too large. Becoming a childminder has been a good alternative for her, although she approaches the reform with caution, stating that while she wants to keep doing this job, it has to remain financially sustainable.
Another major proposal is to increase the maximum charge for main meals from €4.50 to €7.
Childminders are considered self-employed. Ferreira Martins criticises the fact that their working conditions are increasingly aligned with those of employees in crèches, but without some of the same benefits, such as paid holidays, despite the need to pay social security every month.
Maria Helena Dos Santos Fonseca, a childminder since 2011, also highlights the issue of holidays, saying it is a major concern for many in the profession. She calls on the ministry to reform the holiday compensation system to ease the financial burden for childminders who want to take some time off without losing their salary.
Under the reform, every child would have access to 20 hours of free care per week with a childminder, as is already the case in crèches. This is part of the early language learning programme aimed at supporting children’s language development and linked to further training for parental assistants. As before, childminders will be required to hold at least a B2 level in one of Luxembourg's official languages.
Dos Santos Fonseca views these changes positively as they give childminders the recognition they deserve and provide additional support. She notes that while the job has become more complex administratively in recent years, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The detailed activity reports, for example, help her identify areas for improvement. Overall, she believes the profession has improved greatly over time.
In recent years, more childminder permits have been revoked than issued. Ministry statistics show that in the past year alone, 29 permits were cancelled and only three new ones granted.
Over the past five years, 185 permits were cancelled and just 35 issued. There are currently just over 300 registered childminders in Luxembourg.
The Ministry, however, insists that the profession remains an essential part of non-formal education and should be further promoted, with efforts to attract more people to the field.
