Early Education and Childcare Coalition Launches New Manifesto

Early Education and Childcare Coalition Launches New Manifesto

On May 17th, the Early Education and Childcare Coalition (EECC) launched its new manifesto, setting out proposals to ‘rescue and reform’ England’s early education and childcare sector. 
The Rescue and Reform manifesto highlights three critical priorities for the incoming government, including guaranteeing that high-quality childcare is accessible to all children while staying affordable for parents. 

Accompanying the manifesto is new research undertaken by More in Common, which assesses the importance of childcare reform to voters in England. The research data reveal that over half of voters (53%) express concerns about the availability of early education and childcare in England, with 40% saying it is difficult to find provision and 49% saying it is unaffordable. 
Other insights from the data include: 

• 71% of voters say children should have a right to access early education and childcare, regardless of their parent’s employment status. 
• 67% of voters say that investing in early education and childcare benefits the whole country. 

The current early entitlement expansion scheme only extends to children whose parents earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours per week at national minimum or living wage. 

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has previously found that the poorest third of children would not directly benefit from this expansion. Meanwhile, the National Audit Office (NAO) has expressed concerns about the potential for the expansion to widen the educational attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers. 

The director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition said that the new manifesto is widely agreed to be the way forward, and that the current model is flawed and therefore not an option if the health of the childcare sector is to be improved.