Commenting on new analysis by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), suggesting that poor pay and career progression in the early years workforce could hamper expansion of the free childcare entitlement, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“Increasing the affordable access and take-up of early years education is absolutely the right thing to do. Investment and support in the child’s first few years of life can pay off tenfold later on – and especially as they start school – as a child’s development when so young is so crucial, and any issues can be spotted and intervened on early.

“But obviously, for more childcare places to exist, more staff are needed, and – while recruitment efforts have been successful in the short term – more is urgently needed. As this report points out, staffing issues differ greatly across regions, and it is possible that the initial burst of recruitment will have reached a natural plateau.

“It is also the case that simply recruiting new and generally inexperienced and lowly qualified staff isn’t enough to deliver outstanding early years care. Retention of experienced, long-term staff is crucial – and parents expect this level of expertise in settings they are willing to leave their young children. But many early years workers find that pay is a significant barrier to continuing in the profession, especially as they begin to start families of their own.

“The government must put significant effort into improving the status and pay for early years roles, to make it an attractive and sustainable career, in order to make the expanded childcare promise a success.”