Childcare offer ‘too little’

The government’s offer of £1,000 to new childcare staff is “too little, too late”, says TUC general secretary Paul Nowak.

The announcement of the sign-on bonus in 20 pilot areas comes amid concerns about the rollout of free childcare hours to two-year-olds from next month.

“It does nothing to address the retention crisis in childcare, or this Tory government’s chronic underfunding of the childcare sector over the last 13 years,” added Nowak.

“Ministers must introduce a £15 an hour minimum wage for childcare workers, and work with unions to upskill staff and stop the race to the bottom on pay and conditions.”

A 2023 TUC analysis found that every English region was struggling to recruit childcare workers, and the NAHT headteachers’ union said introductory bonuses alone will not fix retention problems.

“There’s no real sense of an effective workforce strategy here, just attempts at sticking plaster solutions,” said NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman.

A new report from the Sutton Trust charity warns the government’s childcare reforms could widen the attainment gap between poorer children and their better-off peers before they start school because of eligibility rules.

It says just 20% of families earning less than £20,000 a year will have access to the planned expansion of funded places, compared to 80% of those with household incomes of more than £45,000.