‘Early years policy could widen inequality’

The Government’s planned expansion of ‘free’ early years places in England risks widening gaps in child development and worsening quality, with the poorest children being most likely not to benefit, according to a new report published by the Sutton Trust.

The research says a large proportion of the poorest children are likely to be locked out of extra early years education with the rates paid by the government to providers being insufficient to cover their costs while it says that planned changes to staff ratios and qualifications risk worsening the quality of education and care.

World Class, conducted by researchers at RAND Europe, compares England with other similar countries and says that the government’s expansion plans treat early years solely as childcare, ignoring the educational and economic benefits of high-quality universal provision.

Alongside the research, the Sutton Trust compared the cost and affordability of early years education for low-income families in England and other countries, taking into account existing and planned government-funded provision.

The cost of 30 hours early years education for an English family of two parents earning a combined income of about £16,500 and with two young children aged two and three, equates to 8% of their income if they do not meet eligibility criteria for additional funded provision – to qualify for 30 hours free funding  – which only covers 38 weeks of the year – both parents need to be earning the equivalent of at least 16 hours a week on the National Minimum Wage.

The Trust says this is considerably more than a similar family in Estonia (0%), Denmark (3%), Iceland (4%), Ireland (5%), and Sweden (5%) about the same as Australia (8%); but less than Quebec (10%), Slovenia (21%) and the USA (a staggering 39%). The analysis places England closer to the most affordable systems for low-income families than the least, meaning England could be on par with the world’s leading systems for access to early years if current disparities with eligibility for the very poorest children are addressed.

The report sets out a range of recommendations, including higher child to staff ratios for children over two [the Government is lowering these], changes to ensure equal access to early years entitlements for lower income families, more health and family support along the lines of Sure Start and raising early years staff’s wages and the reinstatement of the Graduate Leadership Fund to be targeted at the poorest areas to boost the number of higher qualified staff.

Sir Peter Lampl, Founder and Chairman of the Sutton Trust and Chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “By the time disadvantaged young children start school they are already behind their better-off peers. By treating early years provision solely as childcare, we are storing up inequalities for the future.

“As a rich country, we should have a better education system. By drawing on best practice from around the world, we could create an early years system that sets young children on a path to a lifetime of success. Further investment is now needed to make this a reality.”

Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said: “Time and time again, the sector has warned that if the expansion plans are implemented without ensuring that realistic funding and infrastructure is in place it will lead to an implosion of the early years sector. Yet, as it stands the policies look likely to create even more problems for the sector rather solutions.

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