The government is being urged to help nursery staff work their way up to primary headship in an effort to secure an “increasingly unstable” early years workforce.

A lack of career progression is one of the key barriers to a stable early years workforce, along with low pay and a high workload, according to a new report from the government’s Social Mobility Commission (SMC).

The research, carried out for the SMC by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think tank, found that around 37 per cent of early years workers have been with their current employer for less than two years.

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And around one in eight childcare workers (13 per cent) are paid under £5 an hour, the report says.

The commission is calling for urgent action to be taken to improve the stability of provision, especially in light of Covid-19, with early years staff becoming even more vital for child development and with instability likely to “worsen”.

Call for a career strategy for early years staff

It says the government should introduce a comprehensive “career strategy” for early years professionals working with children aged 0 to 8, including “a new training pathway” that allows people to start as apprentices and “upskill” all the way through to primary school headship.

It adds that there should be opportunities to enter the sector at any point along this pathway, subject to qualifications and experience.

According to the report, the career strategy should also include:

• A reform of careers advice services to make sure clear expectations are communicated about what a job in early years entails, while portraying careers as a real professional choice rather than a fall-back option for low achievers.
• A pilot of a workforce registry that would allow EY practitioners to create a community, develop a sense of belonging, craft their professional profile and access CPD opportunities.
• A clear plan for attracting those later on in their careers to join the workforce as EY educators.

Asked why the plan should focus on people working with children up to the age of 8, and not 5 - which is the upper age limit of the Early Years Foundation Stage, the researchers said: “The reason we say 0 to 8 is that some of the workforce working in nurseries often do so in Reception/Year 1/Year 2 at primaries, too, with slightly older children.

“Similarly, the ‘destinations’ and ‘post-5 development’ of children matter, and there will be expert educators, developmental analysts, SEN teachers, early years teaching assistants and institution leaders who could be included in a plan for early years professionals, and some of them will be working with slightly older children.”

Steven Cooper, interim co-chair of the SMC, said childminders and nursery works must be given a “proper career structure”.

Dr Sara Bonetti, report author and director of early years at the EPI, said early years workers face a “lack of career options” that is “holding them back”. 

And Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance (EYA), warned that all too often the early years sector is “still seen as the poor relation of schools”.

Tulip Siddiq, Labour shadow minister for children and early years, said: “Years of underfunding has left childcare professionals working long hours for very low pay. This is driving talented staff out of the sector and letting down the young children whose life chances are shaped by vital early education.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said £20 million has been invested in improving the training and development available for early years staff.

“Nurseries, pre-schools and childminders are a vital support network for families, and will play an integral role in this country’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic,” they said.

“That’s why they have received significant financial support over the past months and will benefit from a planned £3.6 billion funding in 2020-21 to local authorities for free early education and childcare places.”