Subsequent proposals have laid the groundwork to professionalise the workforce. Commitments for all settings to be graduate-led by 2015, for staff in group settings to achieve a minimum Level 3 qualification and childminders a Level 2 qualification "over time" will raise the quality and status of the workforce. From a skills perspective, the birth-to-five curriculum, the Early Years Foundation Stage, has put the onus on practitioners to be educators as well as carers.
But one fundamental issue for early years workers continues to be sidestepped by government: pay and conditions. The Daycare Trust has this week issued a report calling on the government to examine the wider impact of poor pay (see p8). Remuneration for early years workers continues to lag comfortably behind all the other specialisms of the children's and young people's workforce. The fact the early years workforce is 98 per cent female is a firm nod to the gender pay gap.
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