Alliance urges funding review as APPG on Childcare & Early Education survey published
Just one in ten parents believe that current levels of early years funding are enough to enable nurseries, pre-schools and childminders in England to remain financially sustainable, a survey of parents conducted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Childcare and Early Education has found. The online survey was carried out at the end of January 2021, in line with Childcare and Early Education Week and recieved 1,320 responses from parents around England.
For the full press release and survey results please contact the APPG's Secretariat via ChildcareandEarlyEducationAPPG@connectpa.co.uk.
Commenting, Neil Leitch, Early Years Alliance chief executive, said:
"While there is no doubt that the Covid-19 crisis has had a hugely detrimental impact on the early years sector, many of the financial difficulties that nurseries, pre-schools and childminders are currently facing existed long before the pandemic.
"We in the sector have long argued that these challenges are a direct result of sustained government underfunding, and as these results show, parents are well aware of this too, with the vast majority recognising that the government’s support for early years providers is not enough for them to remain financially viable.
"Even with the recent shift towards home working, as the survey findings demonstrate, a functioning early years sector remains critical to the ability of parents to return to their workplaces and progress in their careers. It's therefore clear that government must prevent further early years closures if it is to ensure that the economy as a whole is able to recover post-pandemic.
"The government cannot continue to drag its feet on this issue: we need an urgent review of early years funding to enable providers to deliver quality, affordable and sustainable services both now and in the future. If the government wants to make sure parents can continue to work and that every child is able to benefit from high-quality early education and care, then investing in the sector that can deliver both is surely the obvious choice."