The government is offering £1,000 to new childcare staff amid concerns about the rollout of free childcare hours in just two months' time.
Nurseries and childminders say they are experiencing a recruitment and funding crisis which could derail plans to offer 15 subsidised hours a week to all two-year-olds in England.
Thousands of parents who have applied for the funding are thought to be in limbo as their provider hasn't been told what rate they will get for each of these hours from the local authority.
Research suggests as many as 50,000 more staff may be needed to cope with increased demand when the 15 free hours are offered to babies from the age of nine months later this year.
It rises to 30 free hours for all under-fives from September 2025.
A £6.5m advertising campaign starts today offering tax-free cash payments for the first 3,000 people who qualify to work with pre-school children under a pilot scheme in 20 local authority areas.
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, told Sky News: "This is massive, it's the biggest expansion of childcare in our history.
"We're doing it because we know working families are struggling and childcare is a big component of their household budget.
