England’s childcare system is ‘dysfunctional', propped up by piecemeal policies, held back by a lack of vision and not fit for purpose or the future, argues a new report.
The research by the Fawcett Society compares early childhood education and care systems in countries that have recently, or are currently undergoing, Government-led transformation – Australia, Canada, Estonia, France and Ireland.
It argues that ‘not only is our system failing when it comes to affordability, quality and levels of public spending, but the scale of ambition is nowhere close to our peers, which is impacting women, allowing our gender pay gap to persist and is also holding children back.'
The report goes on to say that our current childcare system is ‘built on a patchwork of provision propped up by short-term fixes, and evidence shows its failing children, parents and providers alike’.
