Every parent and carer will know the constant juggling that comes with raising a family. The maze of admin, registering for nursery places and then for school, working out what support you are entitled to and how you will cover the rest. Being mum, dad, alongside working, socialising, maintaining relationships, is a constant balancing act.
Life has increasingly become a balancing act for early years providers too. Balancing the books is now a constant pressure. Since Labour left government, more than 1,300 children’s centres have closed. In just six months during the pandemic 3,300 early years providers closed their doors for good. This has huge consequences, for staff who lose jobs, for parents unable to find alternative childcare, and of course for children whose development and wellbeing benefit hugely from high-quality education.
The current system is working for no-one. Yet this crisis, like so many we are facing, is being made worse in Downing Street. The Conservatives are underfunding the ‘free’ childcare hours mostly for three- and four-year-olds by over £2 per hour. Ministers know this. That’s leaving providers with little choice but to cross-subsidise, charging parents more to cover the black hole in Government funding.
This situation is unsustainable, and it is worsening inequalities. It is driving, not tackling, the attainment gap which sees children eligible for free school meals arriving at school five months behind their peers.
If we are to close that gap, and to improve outcomes for every child, we must start early. That’s why Labour’s Children’s Recovery Plan would increase the early years pupil premium more than four-fold to support the children who have the most to gain from high-quality early learning. Because we know that the pandemic did not only impact children at school – our youngest children also lost out on formative experiences and opportunities.
Ministers’ proposed solution is to increase the number of children each staff member can look after. To lower the quality of care, the individual attention each child would receive. To raise the pressure on staff. And they plan to do this despite no serious evidence it would tackle the problems of price and availability. Instead of putting our children first, the Government is again putting them last.
In government, Labour put children first. Our society is strengthened by the care and support we give our children. And we know that also means prioritising you: the people who set our children on the path to success.