CYP Now - Reward longevity to retain and attract childcare staff

It is good news that the Department for Education has now launched a national campaign promoting childcare careers. It follows years of lobbying for such a measure from early education organisations.

Derren Hayes: 'Whichever party forms the next government, it will need a stable and sufficient early years workforce to help drive economic growth.'

What prompted the change? It seems likely the government realised that without a big recruitment push its flagship policy to expand funded childcare would fail to deliver, both for families and electorally. The campaign is accompanied by a pilot across 20 councils to offer 3,000 new entrants “golden hellos” of £1,000 to join the early years workforce.

The need is urgent: latest figures show that extending the 15 hours a week of funded childcare to all parents of two-year-olds from April could require an extra 100,000 childcare places. This will be challenging for providers to deliver from a capacity perspective and will require thousands of extra staff – latest jobs data shows a 146 per cent rise in childcare vacancies advertised.

Register Now to Continue Reading

Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's Included