Early Years Alliance comments on new IFS report into the financial impact of Covid-19 on childcare sector
Friday, 4 September 2020 00:01
Commenting, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years
Alliance, said: "We welcome these findings from the IFS which
reinforce what we have long warned about the dire financial state
of the childcare sector in England. "As the report rightly states,
nurseries, pre-schools and childminders were already struggling
long before the pandemic as a result of...Request free trial
Commenting, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the
Early Years Alliance, said:
"We welcome these findings from the IFS which
reinforce what we have long warned about the dire
financial state of the childcare sector in
England.
"As the report rightly states, nurseries,
pre-schools and childminders were already struggling long
before the pandemic as a result of sustained government
underfunding. Now with the additional challenge of
significant falls in parent fee income as a result of the
coronavirus outbreak, many childcare providers are unsure
if they will be able to survive for much longer - our own
research from earlier this year found that one in four
feared closure within twelve months.
"Despite the overwhelming evidence that urgent
action is needed, the government has so far failed to
provide the transitional funding this sector desperately
needs to remain sustainable in the short term, nor has it
been willing to commit to the investment needed to ensure
that providers can stay viable in the long
term.
"If the government is serious about re-booting
the economy, it needs a sustainable early years sector to
ensure that parents have access to childcare they need in
order to work. We urge the government to listen to the
experts, look at the evidence and accept that urgent
action is needed if this vital sector is going to survive
the next few months and beyond."
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