Delivering a childcare guarantee

Article

Childcare in England isn’t working, for children, parents, or providers. A patchwork of government-funded support leaves parents battling against eye-wateringly high costs, while providers are struggling to keep their doors open across the country as running costs rise but funding continues to fall short.

Access to high quality early years education and care is associated with better academic results at key stage 1, while children from the 40 per cent lowest income families who access formal childcare report better outcomes at key stage 1 than their peers who miss out.

The current failings of our childcare system is also costing parents, and particularly mothers, as many lone parents and second earners in couples are left worse off for taking on more paid work. A lack of available and affordable childcare also affects families’ wider wellbeing.

As gaps in school readiness widen between disadvantaged children and their peers, and as soaring living costs pull more families into financial insecurity, or deeper poverty, action on childcare is urgent.

This paper is the second of two exploring the case for a childcare guarantee in England. This paper argues that delivering a childcare guarantee would rely on three core shifts – towards a sustainable funding settlement, a new deal for the early years workforce, and to drive up quality and ensure a sufficient supply of childcare places in every neighbourhood.

Related items

  1. The sign for the Ministry of Defence by the building's main entrance

    Joining forces: A better strategy for defence spending with allies

    Andy Burnham has made the case that national security and rebuilding Britain’s hard power will be priorities for his government. 
  2. Adults standing in a circle and talking to each other about their mental wellbeing. There is a staff member sitting to the left of them in the frame sitting next to a table. The community centre is located in Seaton Deleval in the North East of England.

    What is the left for?: The case for a politics of reciprocism

    Liberal democratic capitalism has failed to give many people good lives, and the future looks less promising than the past. 

  3. Wildfires and climate change | Dave Hawkey from IPPR Scotland speaks to Lewis Goodall on LBC

    Europe’s heatwaves and the wildfires in the Cairngorms are a stark reminder that climate extremes are here.  The Scottish government must act now with a clear plan to prepare for what's coming.