Childcare system is not working

A review of the current childcare and early education system in England by the gender equality campaign, the Fawcett Society, reveals that the system does not work for women, neither as mothers or workers in childcare settings nor for the children who attend them.

Its report, Childcare and early education systems: a comparative literature review, compares the childcare and early education systems of England and five other liberal welfare states — Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

According to the report, England has not reformed its childcare systems since 2017, whereas other countries are innovating their systems, mainly in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Public spending on childcare in the UK is lowest among the countries in this review, bar Switzerland. And wages for early years staff in England are the lowest among the six countries studied. 

The report found that affordable childcare increases women’s labour market participation significantly. And in all the other countries studied, parents with lower incomes pay less for childcare.

However, the reverse is true in the UK with two-parent households with the lowest income paying the most. 

Liz Bayram, chief executive of the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years says that England has “a system of childcare and early years provision with no national strategy and no long-term vision”.