Children at risk due to ‘ unstable’ early years workforce

LOW PAY, a high workload and a lack of career development has led to an “increasingly unstable” early years workforce, which risks having a serious impact on the provision of care for underfives, a new report has warned.

Research from the Social Mobility Commission showed that as many as one in eight of early years workers – including childminders, nursery staff and early years teachers – is paid under £ 5 an hour. The average wage is only £ 7.42 an hour, less than the minimum wage.

Turnover is high, at 15 per cent, mainly due to low pay, which affects both the quality of service and children’s outcomes, and a lack of training and career structure and excessive overtime is contributing to the unstable workforce, the research finds.

The Commission said the pandemic had exacerbated the situation, and there was now a “real risk” that persistent disruption and lack of support for workers could affect the quality of early years provision.

Interim chair Steven Cooper said: “We must do everything we can to ensure that childminders and nursery workers are valued more by ensuring we pay them a decent wage, give them a proper career structure and ensure their workload is reasonable.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We have invested £ 20m in improving the training and development available for staff working in early years settings, particularly targeted at those working in disadvantaged areas, and we are supporting their career progression through better qualifications, more apprenticeship opportunities and routes to graduate level qualifications.”