The report entitled Tackling Disadvantage Through Childcare was prepared by Coram Family and Childcare in collaboration with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).
It found that the changes announced in the latest Budget focus on increasing the availability of childcare rather than on improving quality or uptake. As a result, they risk “exacerbating inequalities” and “not effectively narrowing the achievement gap between disadvantaged children and their peers”.
It added that government’s £4bn investment in the changes will disproportionately benefit higher income families rather than tackling disadvantage.
According to the report, this is partly because the current plans “signal a further shift in childcare policy towards prioritising its role in supporting parents to work and away from prioritising quality and children’s outcomes”.
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