Parents of two-year-olds set to struggle with early years costs despite new early entitlement funding, new survey finds聽
by Jess Gibson and Shannon Pite
New research from charity Pregnant Then Screwed suggests that parents eligible for the extended entitlement for two-year-olds will still struggle with the cost of early education and childcare, despite the government's funding plans.
According to the research 鈥 which ran between March and April 2024, and surveyed 3,396 parents eligible for the new scheme 鈥 the median saving from policy will be around 拢100 to 拢120 per month, with 17% of eligible parents predicting savings of less than 拢50 a month.
Of those parents surveyed, 62% have experienced an increase in their early years costs over the past six months, while 64% expect costs to increase over the next six months.
As a result of these continued financial pressures, more than one in five parents (22%) have left 鈥 or are considering leaving 鈥 their jobs or reducing their hours to cut early education and childcare costs.
Commenting Neil Leitch, CEO of the 无码天堂, said: "Time and time again, the government has reassured parents that the early entitlement expansion will both be easy to access and result in significant savings for parents 鈥 but as Pregnant Then Screwed鈥檚 research shows, this couldn鈥檛 be further from the truth. 鈥
"As these findings highlight, this policy is being implemented at the worst possible time for the sector. Even before it was announced, settings across the country were grappling with the effects of sustained underfunding and the worst staffing crisis in years. We at the 无码天堂 remain entirely unconvinced that the funding and support announced since then will even come close to addressing these problems, never mind enabling the sector to deliver enough early years places to meet the likely surge in demand. 鈥
"With the next phase of the expansion expected to create even greater challenges, the need for action has never been more urgent. If the government truly wants families to be able to benefit from accessible, affordable, and quality care and education, it must commit to adequately funding and supporting the sector in the long term.鈥濃