Education and social mobility experts at the Sutton Trust have today warned of a major deterioration in the education of disadvantaged young children. The Trust says that the role of the early years sector is increasingly moving towards childcare at the expense of providing high quality education, with learning gaps between the most and least well-off young children set to widen in the coming years.
In a new policy briefing published today by the Trust, widespread evidence of mounting pressures in the early years sector is reviewed alongside the policies of the two main parties.
In two months’ time, the government’s expansion of state-funded early years provision will start to be rolled out, but only for children whose parents meet certain work-based criteria*. This means expanded early years education will not be provided to many children from poorer families. This comes as increasing workforce and capacity pressures for providers could see them prioritising places for the children eligible for the most funded hours, and ‘childcare deserts’ are opening up in less affluent areas, placing poorer children at further disadvantage to gain nursery places.
Just 20% of families in the bottom third of the earnings distribution are eligible for the existing 30 hour offer for 3- and 4-year-olds, and all parents in full-time education or training are ineligible. 70% of those who are eligible for the support are from homes in the top half of earners.
