CYP Now - Labour warns childcare funding crisis could setback economic recovery

The government risks damaging the UK’s economic chances of recovering from the Covid-19 crisis unless it provides targeted support for the early years and childcare sector, the Labour Party has said.

Labour's shadow early years minister has called for urgent funding for the sector. Picture: Parliament UK

Without a focused package of financial aid, the opposition warned of a “wave” of imminent nursery closures impacting on families that relied on these settings and potentially causing a setback in the country’s economic recovery.

Tulip Siddiq, shadow minister for children and early years, who is set to visit an early years setting later today (16 July), said mass childcare closures could lead to many parents, particularly mothers, losing their jobs.

This could set back the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic which was linked to people being able to return to employment, she said.

With more than 14,000 childcare providers lost in England since 2015, recent research by the Early Years Alliance (EYA) suggests a quarter of the remaining settings may not survive the effects of the coronavirus crisis.

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