CEY1431

Written evidence submitted by Sigrid Brogaard Clausen and Michelle Cottle

We are writing as senior lecturers at Early Childhood Studies, at the University of Roehampton. The response is based on years of working with students, colleagues and early years settings, on researching the field and enabling students to develop as Early Childhood Graduate Professionals. Many of the points raised below are also concerns that our Early Childhood Students present in their coursework and raise in letters to local MPs to ensure that there is an increased and continued emphasis on funding to enable young children and their families equal and inclusive opportunities for quality, sustainable childcare and education. Inequalities have been exacerbated by the pandemic and now there is an urgent need for investment, and investment in professionalisation of the early years workforce, and where pedagogies for children’s wellbeing, development, participation and learning are approached holistically, and parents are given real choice and opportunity for good care and education for their children. The response highlights the need for emergency funding, and in the long term a move towards 30 hours quality childcare for all children with meaningful investment in a graduate workforce.

You ask: What steps, if any, could be taken to improve it, especially in relation to families living within the most deprived areas in England? 

Research into quality, effectiveness and sustainability of early years provision since 2010 reveals a ‘dysfunctional market failing those that need it most’ (Oppenheim and Archer 2021, p3). Although the Chancellor’s recent Spending Review has increased spending, it does not support early years providers who are currently in dire need of emergency support to keep their early years setting open, in the context of increasing problems with recruitment, turnover and low pay (Oppenheim and Archer 2021, Bonetti 2019). Pre-pandemic, 40% of providers did not believe their provision would last as the thirty hours entitlements did not cover real cost (West and Noden, 2019). The UK Parliament Post (2021) itself includes the National Day Nurseries Association reported 232 nurseries closing between April 2020 and March 2021, meaning in that period 11,000 children and their families losing their continued care and education.

The budget neither extends the 30 hours childcare more widely as recommended in the significant national studies by the Education Policy Institute and Nuffield Foundation: which evidence ‘an association between a child attending early years settings with a graduate and improved outcomes is twice as strong for those children who spend more hours in settings – strengthening the case for 30 hours free childcare offer open to all families and sufficiently funded to be of high quality, and allows disadvantaged children the same opportunities’ (Bonetti and Blanden 2020).

It is time to learn from the extensive research that demonstrates that the current system of subsidised childcare is not working (Bonetti and Blanden, 2020 Lloyd 2018, 2021, Local Government Association, 2022, Owens 2019, West and Noden, 2019). The research brings together availability and quality of care. There is a need for both short term emergency funding to keep settings open; and long term investment, with significant attention to enabling a better paid, graduate workforce to ensure the quality of provision (see below). Currently, the Ofsted measure of overall setting quality is the only measure available in public data for all early years providers. Contextualised measures should be developed track how provision of different types of childcare varies by area of deprivation, e.g recording whether settings are private, voluntary, local authority and whether a nursery is part of a chain (Simon et al. 2022), and include staff qualifications and wages. This would enable a more nuanced government analysis of the current system with targeted support where necessary.

You asked: To what extent does the early years system adequately prepare young children for their transition into primary education, particularly children from disadvantaged backgrounds

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNICEF, 1989) highlights that every child has the right to an education. However, due to the underfunding, this specific right is currently not being fulfilled for young children in England and inflation, austerity measures and COVID-19 have impacted children and families from disadvantaged backgrounds and disabled children disproportionately (UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2020).

Child poverty affects children’s educational achievement and the educational achievement gap between disadvantaged children and advantaged children starts before a child begins school (Owens, 2021). Disadvantaged children have suffered more from COVID-19 more than other children (Morton 2021) with more and more children growing up in poverty (Lyndon,2019, Action for Children,2022). This is likely to have a detrimental effect on a child’s educational progression, well-being, and relationships with friends (Child Poverty Action Group,2022). Research has demonstrated that quality early years education can support children’s educational progression until they are sixteen years old, (Sylva et al, 2014, cited in West and Noden, 2019).

Early years care and education is crucial in enhancing young children’s holistic development and ensuring they are fully prepared for school, so that they can have a positive transition into key stage one (Owens, 2021). High-quality early education supports children’s development and ensures that every individual is provided with the best start in life. Now is the time to not only review the funding for early years, but the sustainability and professionalisation of the workforce to ensure high quality care and education of all young children in England. It is time to act on the Tickell 2011, and Nutbrown 2012 review and 2021 recommendations, The EPI the IPPR and Save the Children recommendations (Stateman, Freedman, and Parkes 2022). ‘Sufficient’ is not good enough, it must be high quality to make a difference for all and especially disadvantaged children.

The government recognised in the 2017 green paper, the difference and value graduates made to the early years sector, especially for disadvantaged children. This has been reiterated in current research with policy recommendations (Bonetti and Blanden 2020). Graduate leaders/practitioners significantly influence quality of care and education, leading improvement and outcomes for children (Davis,2014) A well-educated, well-qualified workforce is essential to high quality provision which, in turn is crucial in closing the attainment gap and giving young children the best possible opportunities for learning and development (Nutbrown,2021). A barrier to graduate leadership in early childhood is the pay and work conditions, and the recruitment crises has worsened (Pascall, 2022).

Early years care and education must be funded adequately, to attract and retain highly qualified professionals, so that children can benefit from it, ensuring that they make progress within their education and have a smooth transition into primary education.

You asked: Are the current entitlements providing parents/carers with sufficient childcare, is funding working effectively?

There is extensive research demonstrating that the current system of subsidised childcare is not working (Bonetti and Blanden, 2020 Lloyd 2018, 2021, Local Government Association, 2022, Owens 2019, West and Noden, 2019, Stateman, Freedman, and Parkes 2022). The Department for Education acknowledges that the fifteen hours and thirty hours free childcare entitlement for two to four year olds has been underfunded (Lawler, 2021), however this funding has not been increased (Gaunt, 2021). Currently, an early years education place for a three to four year old child costs £7.49 per hour but local authorities receive £4.89 per hour for the thirty hours entitlements, (Lawler, 2021), according to the IPPR funding needing to increase to £8.94/8.23 per hour (Stateman, Freedman, and Parkes 2022). This has been exacerbated by the current cost of living crisis and prices facing childcare providers were 11% higher in 2022 than in the previous years (Early Years Alliance, 2022).

In addition to forcing some settings to close, this situation increases pressures on parents. It can force parents into paying more, while rising inflation and costs increasingly work against this; this may result in them withdrawing from the labour market. Again this affects lower income households disproportionately, as evidenced by Public Policy Research (IPPR) (Stateman, Freedman, and Parkes 2022). At the same time Ofsted statistics show that there has been a reduction of 5,400 early years settings within a year (Early Years Alliance, 2022). As a result, parents and caregivers are concerned about the cost and availability, as presented in the call for evidence in this consultation. According to the Local Government Association (2022), underfunding alongside inflation has a detrimental effect on the financial stability of early childhood provision and the accessibility of quality support for all children.

You asked: What challenges do early years providers face in terms of workforce, including recruiting, and retaining qualified staff, and the barriers faced by individuals joining the profession?

The sector is on its knees. As discussed above, the funding is insufficient; there are issues with staff retention and turnover (Oppenheim and Archer 2021) and a lack of nationally agreed work and pay conditions (Lloyd 2018; 2021; Early Years Alliance 2021). Furthermore, underfunding also results in low pay for childcare professionals (Local Government Association, 2022). Underfunding and low rates of pay fail to acknowledge the importance of early years providers to ensure the future of children and make it difficult to attract and retain high-quality staff (Baker & Green, 2005). For example, work in a supermarket can offer higher wages than work in an early childhood setting (Akhal, 2019; Bottery, 2022). For the immense complexity of the work in which they are involved, it is embarrassing to highlight how underpaid and undervalued early years practitioners often are (Lloyd, 2018, McMullen et al., 2020). In addition, a lack of funding can also limit the ability to provide adequate resources and materials for children, which can negatively impact their learning and development (García et al., 2017).

Proposed higher ratios of children to adults are likely to negatively impact the quality of care and education that children receive (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2012). Additionally, the main reasons for workplace pressure, according to practitioners, are an excessive amount of administrative work, constant changes of authority requirements, and a shortage of employees or facilities (OECD, 2019).

Early years’ care and education seems to withhold a heavily marginalised position in education, and it is arguably not prioritised as equally as higher education in terms of training, funding, and opportunities by the government (Weale, 2021). For these reasons alone many of the employees have left the workforce and working conditions became progressively more difficult during COVID-19 (Hardy, 2022). ‘The pay is low, the likelihood of increased pay is unlikely, the work-loads placed on practitioners are high and moreover, we are treated with a lack of respect despite our necessity in society’ (Early Years Alliance, 2021). Furthermore 20% of employees are considering leaving the workforce due to mental health concerns (Lawler, 2021). Thus, the government must develop a comprehensive and long-term plan to effectively fund the early years' sector and take a central steer to ensure high quality care and education for all children (Baker et al., 2020).

The Early Childhood Studies Degree Network is a nationwide organisation that works closely with a wide range of local settings across the country and with local and national organisations. The new initiative of Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner Competencies (ECGPC) provides graduates with academic and early years practice knowledge, competencies and values to strengthen the early years workforce. ECGPC graduates are a resource for the future sustainability and equality, diversity and inclusivity of the early year. However, this needs to be recognised in pay and work conditions, and investment is needed to support settings to employ and retain staff who can provide the needed quality care and education of the youngest citizens in this society. To ensure that future generations receive high-quality early childhood education, a long-term workforce and qualifications strategy for all staff levels has to be developed with commitment to long term and sufficient funding.

You asked: The Covid-19 pandemic have exacerbated workforce challenges?

Yes, with societal inequalities exacerbated by both the pandemic and the current financial crises, (Morton 2021) both parents and professionals are struggling financially and struggling with offering the needed care and education for young children (Bonetti 2019, UK Parliament Post / Hobbs and Bernard 2021). This is a societal crises, where settings and parents have to support children who have experienced social, emotional and academic setbacks in the pandemic, with long-term negative impacts, (NHS, 2021, UK Parliament Post 2021).

A crisis is looming now and in the future, if investments in early years education and care are not made now and consistently over coming years with a focus on making early childhood socially, environmentally, economically sustainable.

We urge you to work with the sector, small and larger, PVI and maintained sector and the organisations, bringing these voices together. We appeal for you to look at the wide range of research recommendations and work closely with early childhood professional education institutions.

References

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January 2023