Fewer Disadvantaged Two-Year Olds Registered for Funded Early Education

Fewer Disadvantaged Two-Year Olds Registered for Funded Early Education

Official statistics show that the number of 2 year olds registered for their entitlement of 15 hours’ childcare has declined from almost 150,000 in 2019 to just under 116,000 today. The job of policymakers now is to determine whether the reasons behind this change are demographic, or related to problems with the policy itself. 

On a demographic side, it should be noted that the number of two-year olds has declined by 18% since 2015. This is due to falling birth rates over the past decade – something the government intends to take advantage of in its scheme to turn vacant school classrooms into early years settings. However, there has also been a shift in the number of families eligible for the scheme – due to static income thresholds and the impact of inflation. In other words, as both prices and incomes have increased, the amount parents must earn before they cease to be eligible has not.

What is certainly not to blame is lack of demand. The proportion of eligible children registered is high, at 75% and the popularity of the wider funded childcare offer also suggests that parents want to take advantage of their entitlements. With fewer children overall, but deprivation a rising concern, many in the sector believe there is a case to raise the threshold and admit more children into the scheme.