Yesterday, within his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced the national living wage, for workers aged 23 and over, will rise from the current £9.50 to £10.42 – an increase of 92p or 9.7 per cent.
While early years organisations, childcare providers and others in the sector recognised the need to increase wages, many expressed concern about the the impact it will have on settings, further risking their financial sustainability amid a cost-of-living crisis with inflation at a record high and energy bills continuing to rise.
Nursery World’s 2022 lifetime achievement award winner, David Wright, ambassador for the Paint Pots nursery group in Southampton, tweeted, ‘Surely @educationgovuk is fully aware that without any additional finance, multiple early years settings will not be able to pay the minimum wage uplift next April and will be forced to close?’
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