A report into the state of childcare by early years research company Ceeda, shows that childcare places on non-domestic premises were available to just a quarter of children living in the 20 per cent most deprived local authority areas, compared with 33 per cent in 2016.
Conversely, among the least deprived areas availability has increased from 32 per cent in 2016 to 43 per cent now.
The report suggests the decline is due to nearly a decade of cuts to local children's centre provision.
Since 2009, around 1,000 children's centres have closed according to research published in April by education charity the Sutton Trust.
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