One in 10 childcare providers in England is facing closure and more than half are struggling to cover their costs, according to the government’s research into the impact of the cost of living crisis on the sector.
The findings will fuel concerns about the capacity of the sector to grow to meet the government’s £4bn expansion to its free childcare offer, which was outlined in the budget this year.
Currently, parents who work more than 16 hours a week and earn less than £100,000 are entitled to 30 hours of free childcare a week for three- and four-year-olds. The government has pledged to expand the scheme to include all children over the age of nine months by 2027-28.
Neil Leitch, the chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said rather than piling more pressure on the sector through ever-bigger promises of free childcare, the government should focus on fixing problems in the current system, created through years of underfunding and neglect.
The Department for Education (DfE) report, based on a survey last November of 1,857 providers, found 10% of those who took part thought it was “likely” they would have to close due to cost pressures, while 2% said they planned to close in the next six months.
