Fundamental challenges affecting the early years sector were not addressed by the Chancellor - Sally Pearse

The news broke as I sat in a room alongside 50 people from every part of the early years sector – maintained nurseries, private nurseries and not for profit – serving every community from the most disadvantaged to the wealthiest suburbs.

Across the board, they are struggling with recruitment, retention and sustainability and everyone in the room agreed the announcement provided no immediate solutions to these challenges.

Underlying all these issues is the fundamental problem of the low value our society places on this crucial area of work and this has corresponding low pay and limited progression routes. This has been the case for years, as the aim of a graduate workforce was removed from the government’s agenda and funding to build skills and gain higher qualifications was also withdrawn.

We have now reached the point where we cannot attract young people into what should be seen as a skilled profession and those that have trained and gained higher qualifications are reaching retirement age. Schools do not direct young people into this as a career or encourage them to study for early years qualifications at university. The government and the sector urgently need to work out how to attract the workforce to provide high quality education and care for these young children.

A recent report by the Early Years Alliance found that more than 80 per cent of nurseries, pre-schools and some childminding settings said they were finding it hard to recruit staff and, more worryingly, one in six said they feared staff shortages are likely to force them to close permanently within a year.

The same report found almost half of settings have had to limit the number of, or stop taking on, new children at their setting. How will our nurseries cope with the potential influx of new children needing places when this policy comes into force?

In addition, there were concerns that the levels of funding attached to the hours would continue to be far lower than the actual costs of delivery.

There needs to be wholesale reform of the system if it is to be fit for purpose for families and for the dedicated people who work in the sector.

There should be qualifications that provide the knowledge and skills of child development and observation, appropriate progression routes that allow practitioners to achieve higher level qualifications in education and care and leadership and management and levels of funding that support a national pay scale for early years educators.

If we want to attract and retain the future early years workforce, then we need to make it a rewarding and fulfilling career option. Early years staff are severely underpaid, with many on less than minimum wage. A new report by the Fairness Foundation found that almost 80 per cent of Britons believed pay was too low for people working in the early years sector and that fairer pay would benefit everyone.

While the Chancellor’s announcement may come as welcome financial support for parents of young children, many are acutely aware of the sector’s precarious position.

The same Fairness Foundation survey found that 60 per cent were concerned about availability, with more than half also worried about sustainability, equality and sustainability. Extensive research has shown the importance of the first five years of a child’s life to their long-term outcomes. This is a period when gaps between disadvantaged and advantaged children widen. These inequalities are tough to shift and can go on to influence children’s later life chances.

At its best, early years childcare can be transformative. Sheffield Hallam University’s partnership with Save the Children, Watercliffe Meadow School and Sheffield City Council is testament to that.

Our community nursery in the Shirecliffe area of Sheffield opened in April 2021 and has made a huge impact on families in an economically challenged part of the city – improving outcomes for children and supporting parents.

For the Chancellor’s policy to work, there needs to be wholesale change to the early years sector. The extra support for parents is a start, but there is a long way to go until Britain has an affordable, equal and sustainable early years childcare sector.

Professor Sally Pearse, director of the Early Years Community Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University.