Expansion of funded childcare could face obstacles due to substantial workforce issues
The Government's ambitious plan to extend free childcare entitlement for children in England is underway, with the full rollout of 30 hours a week of free childcare for all eligible families starting this month. However, a new report from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has raised concerns about the staffing challenges that lie ahead.
The report concludes that the early years workforce faces both quantity and quality challenges. The Government estimates that the early years workforce would need to grow by 35,000 staff from December 2023 to September 2025 to deliver the full rollout of the expanded childcare funding entitlement. Yet, the NFER warns that staffing growth may not continue as expected.
The low pay for early years staff is a key driver of recruitment and retention challenges, according to the NFER report. Early years workers earned on average 36% less than similar workers in 2022/23. To address this issue, the Government offered early years teachers a tax-free payment of £4,500 to work in nurseries in disadvantaged areas in July.
However, the report suggests that the early years workforce needs to be highly skilled to improve children's outcomes. The NFER calls on the Government to continue increasing funding rates for early years providers to allow them to offer competitive wages and pay higher rates to staff with more experience and qualifications.
The Government's expansion of free childcare for children older than nine months, which started in April 2024, may face staffing challenges. Working parents of two-year-olds have been able to access the expanded childcare funding entitlement since April 2024, and from September 2024, working parents of children older than nine months were able to access 15 hours of funded childcare a week during term time.
The Department for Education states that the expansion of free childcare would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the early years sector. Yet, the NFER report states that staffing issues differ greatly across regions. While some areas are meeting targets, others lag behind. This could lead to discrepancies between regions that are not currently being measured by Government data.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, has urged the Government to put "significant effort" into improving the status and pay of early years roles. The NFER report also emphasises that the early years workforce needs to be attractive enough to recruit and retain staff to deliver the expanded childcare entitlement.
In conclusion, while the expansion of free childcare is a significant step forward in supporting working parents, it is crucial that the Government addresses the staffing challenges highlighted by the NFER report to ensure the successful delivery of this entitlement across England.
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