I started this thread as I think this wiki edit should be reverted as seemingly changing tag definition without discussion (maybe there was one? and it is simply not linked in edit?) and for worse
So, is amenity=childcare used in your area for facilities targeting babies? Or is it also used for place where older children, maybe even teenagers, are looked after, after school?
Yes, it is used for facilities for older children, too - mainly elementary school. They are not (necessarily) operated by the schools. They are intended to provide the entitlement to full-day childcare in my county (Hesse/Germany) - even in the holiday time. Because they are voluntarily I would not put them in the education=* tagging of either kindergarten or school. Therefore amenity=childcare is a good tag in my opinion.
I would suggest not opening this discussion without reference to the many many extensive discussions on the topic (in particular on its relationship to amenity=kindergarten). In any case I believe that using the tagging for facilities for older children is not actually disputed.
PS: yes I noted the clickbait title that implies something, aka childcare for nineteen years old youths, that isn’t actually part of the wiki edit you reference.
“and after-school childcare facilities” seemed to include also say after-school activities for 16 years old, but maybe it was my misinterpretation and at least that can be assumed to not apply?
Is it because “childcare” implies young children rather than teenage children?
Amenity=childcare looks to be used exclusively for daycare/pre-school education facilities in my town. These facilities do not have any other tag that would further clarify what kind of childcare facility they are, apart from the name.
After school care is generally organised in schools, and seems to be exclusively for 1st and 2nd year students (and older kids with special needs). I suppose a fully privately-funded facility for older children could exist, but I’m not aware of one.
“targetting babies” is unfortunate wording. I presume you mean providing a childcare service for babies. I would say that they primarily provide a service for babies / toddlers / threenagers.
I try to mark whether after-school care is provided or not. I get the impression that this is aimed at children up to about age 12, but there may be some services that have older children, but probably not older than 14-15.
amenity=childcare can easily be tagged with min_age=* and max_age=*. If appropriate amenity=kindergarten and preschool=yes can also be used.
Ireland might be different from other countries regarding kindergarten. Sure, 4-6 years olds learn about counting, writing and reading, and finger painting, but they do so in “school”. Schools tend to be small and local, so having a separate kindergarten system never made sense. “Preschool” for 2-4 year olds (learn the alphabet, numbers and colours, sit on your chair, don’t fight, “eat your own lunch, I’m not feeding you”) tends to be delivered in a childcare setting (same building, different room). Historically, childcare and after-school care was done by family / extended family, but organised / commercial childcare has become very important in the last 30 years.
After-school care tends to be provided in dedicated childcare spaces, not in schools. However, schools do organise things like after-school sport, art, music, homework supervision, etc.
I think people aged 14 or 15 are not typically referred to as children. I would expect older children to be something like 9-12years old, above they are teenagers and not children any more.
The term “childcare” is not suited for babies IMHO. It is a good idea to avoid mixing them physically in the same place. Babies also require a lot more attention and care. amenity=nursery would be a perfect tag for them, instead of the troll tag amenity=kindergarten + nursery=yes or the overly generic amenity=childcare.
Childcare: amenity=childcare Ages 0-6 (from birth until formal schooling) (where the childcare also offers a “preschool program” - whatever that means, we may also use preschool=yes)
Pre-school/Kindergarten: amenity=kindergarten Ages 3-6) (not babies, but until formal schooling)
So to answer the question, yes amenity=childcare is being used only for facilities catering for ages from babies, toddlers up until before they start formal (mandatory) schooling.
The tag would not be used for “before and after school” care facilities that care for school children outside of school hours, indeed I’m not even sure we have a suitable tag for that and I’m not aware of any actually being mapped.
I’m not saying we within the Australian Tagging Guidelines are using the amenity=childcare tag correctly, just that’s how we generally are applying it.
In Australia (unsure about UK, which is where the tag value terms originate) a “Childcare” is the proper name to refer to a facility that cares for babies.
I presume you mean providing a childcare service for babies. I would say that they primarily provide a service for babies / toddlers / threenagers.