麻花影视comments on national living wage increase

The Pre-school Learning 麻花影视has voiced concerns about the sustainability of childcare providers in England following today鈥檚 Budget, which revealed plans for an increase in the 鈥榥ational living wage鈥 (NLW) but no additional funding for the early years sector.

The early years organisation warned that, while it supports the principle of the NLW and that the early years workforce should be paid a fair wage, such an increase without any additional funding could place further pressure on providers already struggling to stay afloat following years of government underfunding.

The 4.4% increase to 拢7.83 follows a rise in the NLW from 拢7.25 to 拢7.50 an hour in April this year. However, while the Government wants the NLW to be at 拢9 an hour by 2020, the Department for Education has confirmed that early years funding levels will be frozen until 2020, with no formal review of rates planned in that time.

Responding to the announcement in today鈥檚 Budget, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said:

鈥淭oday鈥檚 Budget was an opportunity for the government to secure the long-term future of childcare providers across this country. Instead, it has risked plunging the early years sector further into a funding crisis.

鈥淭he Chancellor鈥檚 announcement of an increase in the national living wage should, in theory, be warmly welcomed by a workforce which has long been underpaid 鈥 and there鈥檚 no doubt that pay in the early years sector needs to increase. But without being matched by an increase in government funding 鈥 and given that staff wages make up around 70-80% of childcare providers鈥 overall costs 鈥 this move will only serve to compound providers鈥 struggles at a time when a lack of government investment is threatening their long-term sustainability.

鈥淲e have long argued that childcare funding needs to keep pace with rising costs, and our Fair Future Funding campaign now has over 5,000 provider and parent supporters who think the same 鈥 and yet the government is determined to act as though all is fine.

Ignoring the childcare funding crisis won鈥檛 make it go away. Every week we hear from nurseries, pre-schools and childminders 鈥 all of them passionate, quality providers 鈥 who are being forced out of business because they simply cannot make the 30 hours work. If ministers want to continue to promote 鈥榝ree鈥 childcare, they should make sure they 鈥 and not parents or providers 鈥 are paying for it.鈥 

Neil also highlighted that the pressure on the childcare sector is likely to get worse as the 30-hour policy continues to roll out:

鈥淭he autumn term is typically the quietest term for childcare providers and yet many local authorities are already reporting a squeeze on 30-hours places. This is only going to get worse as the year continues, and the frustrating thing is that the government knows this all too well. Only last week, the Department for Education announced a new Delivery Support Fund to help tackle the 鈥渧ariety of challenges鈥 the sector will face in the summer term when the demand for 30 hours places has increased 鈥 and yet, the vast majority of councils won鈥檛 receive any further funding towards the free entitlement offer next year. Rather than small, ad-hoc pots of funding, the government simply needs to fund the childcare sector adequately, and ensure that early years providers can deliver the provision that parents need without risking the viability of their businesses.

 

ENDS

Editor notes

A recent workforce report by Ceeda, the sector research specialist, found that while sector pay was increasing due to the national living wage, it still lagged behind the England average: average sector pay stands at 拢8.45 an hour compared to an average hourly pay across all occupations in the UK of 拢15.98.

About the Alliance

  • The Pre-school Learning 麻花影视is the largest and most representative early years membership organisation in England. A registered educational charity, it also provides high-quality affordable childcare and education to support children and families in areas of deprivation throughout the country.
  • The 麻花影视represents 14,000 member settings and supports them to deliver care and learning to more than 800,000 families every year. We deliver family learning projects, offer information and advice, produce specialist publications, run acclaimed training and accreditation schemes and campaign to influence early years policy and practice.
  •  The 麻花影视website is     
  • The 麻花影视is running the  campaign, which calls on the government to ensure that early years funding meets the rising cost of providing 'free entitlement' places. The campaign has 5000 supporters to date.