The paper lays out 12 key missions to close the disadvantage gap by 2030.
Plans set out in the report, written by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, include investment announced in the most recent Comprehensive Spending Review to build or renovate 300 youth centres in the most disadvantaged areas and ensure 90 per cent of primary school children are meeting the expected standard of reading, writing and maths in the next decade.
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Special report: Social mobility in the early years
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Blog: Why we must invest in a better start for disadvantaged children
Plans to improve the standard of food in schools and reduce violent crime are also included in the paper.
However, critics have accused the government of “missing an opportunity to put young people at the heart of levelling up” while others have highlighted a lack of support for early years providers.
Save the Children, The Children’s Society, Barnardo’s, Action for Children and the National Children’s Bureau said it was "disappointing" that the 12 key missions do not tackle child poverty or investment in the early years, nor include specific measures for children on tackling wellbeing and health inequalities.
A joint statement from the charities added: “Levelling up cannot succeed while families experience rising poverty, debt, homelessness and hunger. We also know that the first few years of a child’s life are crucial and addressing children’s learning and development in the early years is one of the best ways to prevent the impact of poverty on children and into adulthood.
“The ultimate test of levelling up as a strategy is not just whether it can spread opportunities fairly throughout the country, but whether it can tackle the underlying issues that persistently deny every child fair access to these opportunities.”
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association, said there is little support for early years in the white paper.
“The levelling up agenda must start in the early years which is the best opportunity to support their lifelong learning and gives the biggest return on investment,” she said.
“We need to see more support given to children to build up their foundations of learning. This must include a clear strategy for early years and their workforce.
“A first simple step could be to meaningfully increase the early years pupil premium to at least bring it in line with the school-aged pupil premium. This could really make a difference to the most disadvantaged children and support them to fulfil their potential,” Tanuku added.
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “The government’s levelling up white paper rightly acknowledges that ‘children’s early experiences affect lifelong physical and emotional health,’ which means that ‘all children and families need to be able to access high quality early years education’.
"It is absurd, therefore, that the paper should fail to make a single mention of any new investment into early education and care, while still suggesting that the government's plans will achieve substantial improvements in children’s educational attainment.
"As so much research has shown, quality early years provision has the biggest impact on children and families living in the areas of greatest disadvantage. By once again failing to recognise the need to invest in early education, the government risks allowing the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers to widen even further.
"We urge ministers to address this senseless oversight and ensure that investment into our vital sector forms an important part of any future 'levelling up' plans."
Meanwhile, Centrepoint criticised the report over a lack of acknowledgement of the scale of homelessness.
“However levelling up is defined, the success of the next generation of young people should be at its heart," it said.
“That means we must give young people the support they need, now, to help improve their own futures and to better the prospects of their communities too. Every young person deserves a home and a job. The promise of investment in affordable housing, education, and local job opportunities is welcome but, to have real impact, careful targeting of resources towards vulnerable and disenfranchised young people is essential.
“We want to end youth homelessness by 2037 - but we know it will be difficult without the government sharing that aim. This white paper was a missed opportunity to make that commitment - but, if ministers want to demonstrate they mean business when they talk about levelling up, they could start by developing a strategy to end youth homelessness as soon as possible.”
Leigh Middleton, chief executive of the National Youth Agency (NYA), described plans to boost youth work provision, including a £171m investment in the National Citizen Service and a roll-out of the Duke of Edinburgh award to all secondary schools as “another brick in the wall to rebuild youth services” after a decade of cuts.
“All investment in young people is welcome. However, we need to build a dam, not a wall, to level up opportunities with young people.
“Youth services have seen an annual drop of some £1bn in recent years. Thousands of grassroots youth groups, many volunteer led, need our support. This requires increased revenue and stable funding that can be sustained over time, transforming lives through youth work and matched to local needs. No area overlooked; no young person left behind,” he said.
Jonathan Douglas, chief executive at the National Literacy Trust, said that the government “must not underestimate the scale of the challenge” to ensure that 90 per cent of children leave primary school reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths by 2030.
“The pandemic means we are facing an unprecedented national literacy challenge, exacerbating the challenge of levelling up, that can only be addressed by a holistic approach involving charities, businesses and communities working hand in hand with schools and teachers,” he said.
