More than 8,000 nursery and childcare staff have been absent as a result of mental health issues over the past five years, figures from the Scottish Conservatives claim.
Freedom of information requests submitted to all of Scotland’s 32 local authorities showed that absences caused by stress among early years staff has increased by 53% in the last five years.
Between 2018-2019 and 2022-2023, 8,076 staff were absent due to stress of poor mental health, from 1,159 in 2018-19 to 1,779 in 2022-23.
The party say the figure is likely to be higher as three councils did not respond to requests and four did not produce figures for 2022/23.
Additionally, freedom of information does not apply to private sector nurseries and early education establishments.
