Pay levels for staff working in childcare have increased more quickly than pay in the broader UK economy, according to a new survey.

The rise in pay rates between 2011 and 2013 reflects the increasing qualification levels of staff, according to the Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey published by the Education Department.

The survey notes there was was a 7% rise in the mean hourly pay rates of staff who worked for full day care providers and at children's centres offering full day care. They could respectively expect to earn £8.40 and to £12 per hour. Staff who worked in places providing sessional care earned £8.70 per hour, an increase of 10% over the two years to 2013.

The national mean hourly wage for the UK workforce rose by 3% from £14.76 to £15.19 between 2011 and 2013.

The survey was based on 10,271 interviews with providers in England. This included 7,578 which were group-based and with out of school providers, 902 which were with childminders and 1,791 which involved school-based providers.

The survey states: "It is likely that the broader difficulties in the UK economy served to restrain wages in 2011 and the improvement in economic conditions since then may have played some role in wage increases between 2011 and 2013 ... it appears that pay rates in group-based providers have increased more rapidly than those of the broader UK workforce.

"One factor that may be contributing to this effect is the increasing level of qualification in the childcare and early education sector. As the sector becomes better qualified, it is natural that wage demands will increase accordingly."

Senior managers in full day care settings in children's centres had the highest overall pay level, with a mean of £17.30 per hour. This made them the only staff group which earned more than the national average wage of £15.19, according to the survey.

The amount of staff working in sessional care, who had at least a level three (A level or equivalent) qualification rose from 79% in 2011 to 84% in 2013. This is a "significant" rise since 2008 when only 61% of these workers boasted the same qualifications.

There was also a 3% increase up to 87% in the amount of full day care staff who had at least a level three (A level or equivalent) qualification from 2011 to 2013.

It was also noted that apprentices make up to 6% or "a small but significant proportion" of the childcare workforce who looked after the youngsters in group and out-of-school settings.

The survey notes the number of long-term day care providers increased, with 17,900 full day care settings recorded in 2013, compared with 17,600 in 2011.

The number of places offering sessional care fell from 7,900 in 2011 to 7,100 in 2013 while the number of active childminders fell from 48,800 1 to 46,100 in the same period.

Childcare and Education Minister Sam Gyimah said: " As part of our plan for education we are creating more flexible, affordable and high quality childcare.

"Good early education has a real impact on a child's educational attainment and life chances. So it's great to see that more and more children taking up an early years place and an increase in the number of places available in deprived areas.

"There's good news for the workforce too with qualifications levels on the rise and pay increasing more quickly than pay in the broader UK economy."