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Leading membership organisation, the Early Years Alliance, has issued a comment in respnose to the results of a parent survey on childcare and the early years by the Department for Education. The results of the survey can be read . 

Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said: 

“Today’s survey results highlight what huge burden high early years costs continue to place on families across the country.  

“With nearly half of families with pre-school-aged children calling for childcare and early education to be made more affordable, and a quarter saying that costs are difficult or very difficult to meet, it’s clear that urgent action needs to be taken. Early years providers are doing all they can to keep costs down for families, but when faced with years of underfunding, alongside rising cost pressures themselves, they can only do so much.  

“Time and time again, we have urged the government to put together a long-term plan for the early years, and to commit to realistic, sustainable funding that will help ensure that every family can access quality care and education without putting themselves under financial strain. So far, we have seen very little action.  

“And things are only likely to get tougher. As the survey shows, early years affordability challenges are having by far the most significant impact on the lowest-income families, with nearly half of families earning under £10,000 a year saying they are finding it difficult or very difficult to meet costs. Sadly, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to worsen, more and more families are likely to fall on hard times - as such, it is all the more critical that ministers take urgent action to address this issue before the situation becomes even more catastrophic.”