The sector will need 27,500 staff to meet increased demand when the extended entitlement comes in, finds new research.
Modelling from the think tank Nesta predicts there will be up to a 46 per cent rise in hours spent in early years settings for one and two-year-olds by 2028.
To meet this increased demand, it predicts that 27,500 early years professionals will be needed, an 8 per cent expansion of the current workforce. According to Nesta, the sector has lost 3 per cent of the total workforce since 2019.
Nesta says additional demand for early years education will come from an increase in childcare hours among parents already in work, and from the 60,000 people that the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates will return to work as a result of the policy.
