One in four UK parents have had to give up work or education due to the cost of early education
By Rachel Lawler
New research from charity Theirworld has today revealed that one in four parents has had to quit a job or course of study due to the cost of early education.
The charity surveyed more than 7,000 parents and carers with children under the age of seven in the UK, Brazil, India, Netherlands, Nigeria, Turkey and the US.
The results, shared in the , showed that 23% of UK parents had either quit a job or dropped out of their studies due to the cost of early education. This compares to 17% of parents in Brazil, 16% in Turkey and 13% in Nigeria.
Almost three-quarters of UK parents (74%) said they found it difficult to afford early education, compared to 52% in India, 57% in the Netherlands, 59% in Nigeria, 68% in the US and 72% in Turkey.
The report also highlighted the fact that half of the world鈥檚 children 鈥 around 350 million 鈥 do not have access to early education.
In response, the report calls for investment in early education 鈥渁t a national and local level鈥 including:
- fully trained and funded early years workforce
- funding to support universal access to early education, healthcare and nutrition services
- legal frameworks to support a child鈥檚 right to thrive and develop their fullest potential
- family-friendly policies such as parental leave, income support scheme and support for working parents
- setting early years investment targets
In the report鈥檚 forward, Sarah Brown, chair at Theirworld, said: 鈥淚n launching the Act For Early Years campaign, Theirworld and our partners are making the case for a global revolution in how the youngest children are provided for. It鈥檚 an argument that really shouldn鈥檛 have to be made, but it will be so much stronger with your support, united in a single voice to demand the change that the under-fives deserve.鈥
Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Alliance, said: 鈥淭he fact that, according to Their World鈥檚 research, one in four UK parents have had to quit their job or leave education due to soaring early years costs is extremely concerning, but sadly it comes as no surprise.
"For years now, nurseries, pre-schools and childminders have been doing their very best to provide high quality education and care, but years of severe underfunding have left them with no choice but to increase fees just to keep their doors open.
"If that wasn鈥檛 bad enough, Theirworld's research highlights that the UK fares considerably worse than many other countries, showing both how serious the issue is, and how neglected the sector is when it comes to government support and funding.
"Yet, rather than listen to the sector on how best to solve the early years crisis, the government has instead opted to introduce policies - such as the 30-hours-expansion- that will only serve to further cripple a sector already on its knees.
"It is absolutely vital, therefore, that, as government looks at how it will implement the proposals announced in last month鈥檚 Budget, it uses it as an opportunity to work with the sector to ensure it can survive the coming months and years."