Alliance responds to Leeds University report showing the impact of Covid-19 on early years providers and families
The Early Years Alliance has responded to a report published today by the Childcare during Covid study from the University of Leeds. The project's final report, , found that the pandemic has had a range of negative effects both on early education providers and on the ability of families with young children to access early education and care.
Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said:
"This report from the University of Leeds underlines exactly what the early years workforce has been telling us since day one of the pandemic, that they are ever-more relied upon and yet not remotely respected. With costs for early education settings due to rise in April, accompanied by a totally inadequate funding settlement, pressures on this 鈥渙verworked, neglected鈥 workforce will only increase.
"What鈥檚 more, this failure to support early education and care flies in the face of the 鈥榣evelling up鈥 agenda, as families who would benefit most from its support are increasingly unable to access it, because of the same policies which have left early education settings underfunded and understaffed.
"While many Covid-19 restrictions are now coming to an end, the experience of working during the pandemic has taken a huge toll on the morale of the early years workforce. To ensure our dedicated and professional educators can keep doing the jobs they love, the government must drop its platitudes about support for early years and take radical steps to refocus on and reinvest in our essential early education sector."