Revealed, the chronic lack of childcare spots
GREATER Manchester has a chronic shortage of earlyyears childcare.
The latest figures from Ofsted reveal that there are 3,141 registered early-years providers in the area, offering a maximum of 76,810 places to children under the age of six.
However, there are 219,149 under-sixes currently living in Greater Manchester – around three children for every childcare place.
The figure ranges from two children for every childcare place in areas like Tameside and Trafford, to four children for every place in Manchester.
ome of those places are also available to older children, making the competition for childcare even more fierce. It means many working parents will be forced to find alternative childcare, such as getting help from grandparents or other family members, and even taking time off work themselves.
All three to four-year-olds in England can get 570 free hours of childcare per year, usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year – and some children are eligible for 30 hours a week.
Two-year-olds are also eligible for 15 hours of early education per week, provided their parents receive certain benefits, such as Jobseeker’s Allowance, or if the child is looked after by a local authority.
However, having free childcare on offer makes little difference if there are not enough places available.
The figures also show that the situation hasn’t improved over the last few years - the ratio of children to childcare places in Greater Manchester is the same as it was in 2015.
During that time, the number of providers on the earlyyears Register has fallen from 3,851 to 3,141, but the number of places available has increased slightly - from 74,870 to 76,810.
There are concerns that the accessibility of childcare will only worsen as the long-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic are felt.
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “If the government is truly serious about rebooting the economy by getting parents back to work, it cannot afford to continue ignoring the early years sector any longer.”