Boost early years pay and conditions to improve support for most disadvantaged, Sutton Trust urges

“Generations of talent are being lost through a lack of investment in the early years workforce, which risks widening inequality in society,” the report by The Sutton Trust and Centre for Research in Early Childhood states, setting out a new framework to improve social mobility in the early years.

• How to address the childminder decline

• 'Invest in the childcare workforce to get best outcomes for children'

It analyses the implementation of recommendations made in the 2012 Nutbrown Review and assesses its impact on the early years workforce.

The new report highlights a drop in numbers taking up places on the Early Years Teacher course and a high level of staff turnover linked to low salaries and lack of career benefits.

“Access to high-quality early years teaching and well-qualified staff is hugely important for all children, leading to positive language, physical, social and emotional development. It is particularly crucial for disadvantaged children, who may not have access to the same home learning support as those from better-off homes,” the report states.

The authors have called on the government to:

• Establish a clear vision for the early years and childcare workforce and a restatement of the crucial importance of achieving a well-qualified, high status and better rewarded profession to achieve a world class early years’ service.

• Improve access to qualifications by removing barriers to entry level (1-3) qualifications and establishing a Level 3 (A Level equivalent) qualification as the benchmark for the sector.

• Properly fund Continuing Professional Development (CPD) after initial training and tyo make it a requirement for all staff throughout their careers.

• Reinstate initiatives for graduate leaders to be employed in all early years settings through the ‘Leadership Quality Fund’.

• Urgently address disparities in pay, conditions of employment and status across the maintained and private sectors.

Recent research by the Sutton Trust found that many early years providers are facing closure due to the financial impact of the coronavirus, which will have likely repercussions for both children’s early development and learning, and their parents’ ability to access the workforce.

Sir Peter Lampl, founder and chairman of the Sutton Trust and chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “The early years workforce should be given the pay and training they deserve. First and foremost, we need a clear vision for the early years workforce that addresses disparity in pay amongst staff and provides them with adequate development and qualifications.

“Investing in the people who work in our early years sector will bring benefits to all young children – but particularly the most disadvantaged – for years to come.”

Professor Cathy Nutbrown, author of the Nutbrown Review, added: “A highly qualified, early years workforce, requires vital investment in the future, we cannot afford the consequences of failing yet again to fund high quality provision for young children and appropriate qualifications and renumeration for those who work with them. The solutions are clear. What is needed now is political will to properly resource the future and to show due respect to young children and those who work with them.” 

Commenting on the report Tulip Siddiq MP, Labour’s shadow minister for children and early years, said: “The government has driven experienced nursery staff and childminders out of the sector by failing to tackle low pay and a lack of career progression.

“Early years education can transform the life chances of children but this incompetent government has failed to give the sector the support it needs.”

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, added: “For far too long, we've relied on the goodwill of early years practitioners to keep them in the sector, when what they need and deserve is to be able to progress in their careers, to know that they are valued and respected, and crucially, to be paid a decent wage.

“With so many in the workforce being paid at or just above the minimum wage, it's clear that the historic underfunding of the early years has to be addressed as a priority if we are going to continue to be able to recruit and retain talented, high-quality practitioners into the sector.

“It's time that ministers committed to both a comprehensive and meaningful long-term early years workforce strategy, and the substantial investment needed to attract and retain a high-quality workforce to continue providing the best possible early education to the young children in our care.”

The report comes as the Early Years Workforce Commission launch an employee survey and call for evidence from people working across the early years sector to “gain the perspective of those working ‘on the ground’ and understand, from their perspective, what needs to be achieved to ensure the sector can continue to provide high-quality childcare and early years support for children and families across the country”.

The survey can be accessed online here, and the Call for Evidence can be accessed online here, with submissions closing at 6pm on 25 September.