Nearly 18,000 early educators could be recruited if more roles included part-time or flexible options, new study claims
by Jess Gibson
Increasing the volume of early years roles that are part-time or include flexible working options would aid the recruitment of educators in the sector, a study by social enterprise Timewise has found.
The report, Building the Early Education and Childcare Workforce of the Future, was produced by Timewise following a two-year research project where the social enterprise organisation worked with two early education providers, the Early Years Alliance and the London Early Years Foundation, and was backed by JPMorganChase.
According to Timewise, the aim of the study was to 鈥渋mprove the availability of high-quality flexible jobs and help tackle the early years recruitment and retention crisis鈥.
The report found that the level of part-time work across the early education sector has fallen in most settings since 2018-19, impacting the recruitment and retention of early educators 鈥 with 78% of early years settings saying they are struggling to recruit new staff, according to an Alliance survey.
Furthermore, the report identifies that early years staff 鈥渨ork longer hours than people in comparable occupations like retail and hospitality, which offer higher pay and less physically and emotionally demanding work鈥.
With women making up 98% of early years educators 鈥 and 45% of those aged between 25 and 39 鈥 and latest available estimates suggesting that 93% of non-workers would prefer to get a part-time or flexible job than a full-time role, Timewise is calling from a recruitment drive based around part-time and flexible working to attract more talent to the sector, while also 鈥渟temming the existing talent drain鈥.
Following the research project, Timewise predicts that 鈥渁 national workforce strategy, with the offer of flex at its core, would fill the equivalent of 17,850 full-time vacancies in the time needed鈥.鈥
Timewise Director of Policy, Clare McNeil said: 鈥淓ven in time and resource-constrained nurseries, we have shown it is possible to create flexibility for staff which boosts morale and wellbeing. It is clear we need to increase part-time and flexible work to make the sector more competitive and to meet the staffing shortfall for the new entitlement.
鈥淲e are calling for flexible working to be placed front and centre of a new workforce strategy to attract more people into the early years sector and see early years professionals receive the conditions and respect they deserve.鈥濃
Sarah Ronan, Director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition (EECC), said: 鈥淎s a society, we often expect people in early years to deprioritise their own lives and families in order to care for ours, but early educators have needs just like the rest of us 鈥 they have families, sports days, and health conditions. If we鈥檙e going to attract 35,000 more people into the sector and, critically, encourage them to stay, we need to innovate and take urgent action.
鈥淲orking with children is a hugely rewarding profession, but we can鈥檛 rely on the joy of that alone to build a workforce. We must offer pay and conditions that ensure the early years sector can compete with the rest of the labour market. Greater flexible working is one way of doing that and could be key in meeting the demand created by the expansion of funded childcare.鈥濃
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: 鈥淲e know that flexible working helps support mental health, which in turn builds a happier, more sustainable workforce. That said, there's no doubt that making it work in the early years, where continuity of education and care is so vital鈥痑nd staffing pressures on settings are already so acute, presents unique challenges.鈥 鈥
"What the work of Timewise does make clear, however, is that flexible working isn't 鈥 and shouldn't be 鈥 only for those behind desks. With flexible working becoming increasingly common across other frontline sectors, such as nursing, it's vital that early years providers get the support they need to make this new way of working a reality, so that our hard-working education professionals can reap the many benefits that flexible working can bring."鈥