Across the 50-minute speech, Rishi Sunak failed to mention children and young people once and referenced families just a handful of times. The statement was billed as containing measures to alleviate the worst effects of the cost-of-living crisis. Yet children’s charities concluded there was little support for the poorest families, prompting some to question whether the government realises how fragile household finances are at the lowest end of the income ladder.
Providers of early years services are already preparing for tough times ahead. Rising costs for running a childcare setting mean providers are having to ask parents to pay more. Latest research by Coram Family and Childcare shows some families now spend a third of their income on childcare. But for those families that rely on government-funded early education alone, particularly those in receipt of the two-year-old entitlement, paying top-ups is unlikely to be an option.
Karen Lilley, who runs three childcare settings in a deprived part of Plymouth, reflects the concerns of many smaller providers when she says that without extra income – from the government or parents – staff will need to be trimmed or a setting closed. The former could affect the quality of provision, the latter results in disadvantaged children missing out altogether. In fact, Coram’s research shows a third of councils reported a fall in the quality of childcare services over the past year because of cuts by providers while the proportion reporting a shortage of places for two-year-olds rose nine percentage points.
Many of the issues fuelling the cost-of-living rise are beyond the government’s control, but investing more money in the most vulnerable people is a step it must take now to prevent an even greater crisis over the next few years. That includes more money to ensure childcare providers can keep offering places to disadvantaged families through the government-funded scheme. A simple way to do this would be to lift the early years premium to the same level as the pupil premium for schools. This could be for two years, during which time the government should undertake a root-and-branch review of the funded childcare policy, including the pitiful funding rates currently offered.
Failure to act could see a whole cohort of disadvantaged young children miss out on an early education experience with damaging consequences for their early development.
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Derren Hayes is editor of Children & Young People Now
