The early years workforce continues to face substantial recruitment and retention challenges despite recent growth in the number of staff. New analysis suggests that these issues could be a key barrier to delivering the Government’s expanded early years entitlement.
From today, the free childcare entitlement will extend from 15 to 30 hours for eligible working families with children aged between nine months and three years.
Research by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) reveals the key trends in recruitment, retention, pay, working conditions and wellbeing in the early years workforce and recommends how to tackle challenges in the sector.
In October 2024, the Government estimated that the early years workforce would have to grow by 35,000 staff between December 2023 and September 2025 to meet the needs of the planned entitlement expansion.
This report shows that if the current rates of growth and acceleration in staff numbers continue, then the workforce size is on track to meet the Government’s estimate. However, given that providers have reported challenges with achieving the growth so far and further growth may be even more challenging, the trends may not necessarily continue.
The report also highlights that although the target could be met at a national level, there are likely to be regional discrepancies that are not currently being measured by Government data.
Findings also indicate that low pay is a consistent driver of staffing challenges. Pay levels in the early years sector are lower than both the general workforce and among similar workers despite recently rising in relative terms.
In 2022/23, early years workers earned 36 per cent less on average than other workers who have similar characteristics and working patterns. While early years providers are responsible for setting pay levels for their staff, levels of Government funding – including funding rates for free entitlement hours – have a strong influence over what is feasible for a provider to pay.
The analysis also suggests there is limited opportunity for pay progression within the early years workforce. This means staff with different levels of experience and/or qualifications can receive relatively similar pay.
NFER is urging the Government to continue increasing funding rates, so that early years providers can offer competitive wages to recruit and retain staff, with a pay structure that rewards higher qualification levels and career progression.
Jack Worth, NFER Education Workforce Lead, said:
“The early years landscape is undergoing significant changes and increasing pressures. It is critical that workforce challenges in the sector are addressed, so that it can be both attractive enough to recruit new staff and also retain a higher level of staff, to ensure it can meet the demands of the expanded free childcare entitlement.
“Delivering impactful early education and care will give our children the best start in life and support better outcomes. Investment in further research and high-quality data is needed to allow the Government to make effective future policy decisions.”
Further findings from the report include:
- Staff retention is a significant challenge, particularly for staff in group-based providers, putting the stability of the expanding workforce at risk. In 2024, the turnover rate among staff in group-based providers (GBPs) was twice that in school-based providers (SBPs): 16 per cent compared to eight per cent.
- Early years workers with lower qualification levels report limited opportunities for career progression. Only 49 per cent of early years workers agree that there are opportunities for career progression at their work, compared to 57 per cent among similar workers. Early years workers qualified to level 2 or below are even less likely to agree.
- Levels of wellbeing among early years staff are generally high, although lower among higher qualified staff. In 2022/23, early years workers reported being significantly happier on average than similar workers and had a particularly high sense of feeling that the things they do in their life are worthwhile. However, higher qualified early years workers (qualification level 4 or 5) reported significantly higher levels of anxiety while their sense of things they do in life being worthwhile was significantly lower. More research is needed to understand the drivers behind these differences.
The report also recommends:
The Government implements its policy proposals on the early years professional development offer and career pathway swiftly to upskill and retain the current workforce.
The Government and providers emphasise the high sense of worthwhileness and fulfilment of working in the early years sector, as well as the positive working environment.
The Government should upgrade the sources of early years workforce data and research, including commissioning a large-scale survey of early years staff, analysing data on staff numbers at a regional level and undertaking research to understand the pressures on higher-qualified staff and how to address them.