Alliance comments on NatCen report on early years workforce challenges
Commenting on the report, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said:
"It’s clear that much more must be done to improve the recruitment and retention of early years practitioners.
"The first five years of a child’s life are absolutely vital to their long-term development, and yet this isn’t remotely reflected in the pay or recognition that the professionals who support this pivotal stage of early life receive.
"Every day we hear of more and more talented, passionate practitioners choosing to leave the sector for roles with less stress and more pay. How can we continue to provide the best possible care and education to young children if we are increasingly unable to attract and retain the high-quality workforce needed to do so?
"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.
"For this to be possible, the government needs to commit to better investment into the early years, and to a comprehensive and meaningful long-term early years workforce strategy. This is simply not an issue that ministers can afford to drag their feet on."
- The Early Years Alliance is the largest and most representative early years membership organisation in England. A registered educational charity, it also provides high-quality affordable childcare and education to support children and families in areas of deprivation throughout the country.
- The Alliance represents 14,000 members and supports them to deliver care and learning to more than 800,000 families every year. We deliver family learning projects, offer information and advice, produce specialist publications, run acclaimed training programmes and campaign to influence early years policy and practice.
- The Alliance website is