It says children from birth to five are compounded by the impact of the pandemic and rising poverty amid the cost of living crisis.
The report calls for ‘a whole system review' of early education and childcare.
It notes that public policy continues to focus on school-age children much more so than babies and young children, and that policy and practice have not kept pace with changes in both the reality of early childhood and the lives of families with young children.
Almost all children now rely on the early childhood education and care system, which is not ‘fit for purpose and is in need of urgent reform’, the authors say.
Around two-fifths of children are not reaching their expected level of development by the age of five and more than a third of families with young children are living in poverty.
The foundation is calling on the government to lead the development of an early childhood strategy based on four goals:
Goal 1: Services understand and respond to the needs of all families with young children in the round. These services need to provide a continuum of support for parents, from light-touch universal information and guidance to more intensive, sustained support for those in need of extra help.
Goal 2: All parents have a choice about how they care for their young children. Empowering choices requires parental leave entitlements and creating family-friendly workplaces, requiring action from both government and employers. It also requires a step change in enabling both mothers and fathers to balance work and care.
Goal 3: An early education and care system supports all young children’s learning – in the broadest sense – with a focus on tackling disadvantage. Formal education and childcare is now a near-universal experience for young children. Given the rapid growth of this sector, its complexity and tensions between its objectives, we conclude that a whole system review is needed.
Goal 4: A societal commitment to tackling the causes and effects of early childhood poverty. Rates of poverty have risen since 2013 and are highest for families with a child under five – standing at 36 per cent. Addressing early childhood poverty includes quality jobs for parents that enable work-care balance, improving social security benefits and support for parenting and mental health.
Carey Oppenheim, author of the review and Early Childhood Lead at the Nuffield Foundation said, ‘A child’s early years are crucial for their future life-chances. The Best Start for Life has opened up the possibility of a more ambitious, integrated approach to early childhood. We have strong foundations to build from and a growing evidence base of what works in supporting young children and their families.
‘We need an early years strategy that prioritises family-focused, joined up services that take account of the complexity and dynamism of family lives. To be effective, systems of support should empower families of young children and meet their evolving needs today and into the future. Working together to get the fundamentals right in early childhood is part of creating a more resilient, productive and just society for us all.’
Bringing up the next generation: from research to policy, by Carey Oppenheim with Richard Batcheler and Jordan Rehill is published today (Tuesday).
Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said, 'While the findings of this report will come as little surprise to those working in the early years sector, the fact that rising inequality and poverty, exacerbated by both the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis, is having such an impact on the lives of so many young children is still of great concern.
'All children, regardless of their background, should be able to access high quality early years education, and there is a wealth of research highlighting the vital importance of the early years and the significant impact it has on a child’s future development. Early educators have worked incredibly hard to counter the inequalities highlighted in this report, but they themselves need support to be able to continue to do so.
'While the Nuffield Foundation is absolutely right to argue for a system that helps parents to balance work and care and supports children’s learning, the fact is that years of government underfunding has pushed early years settings to the edge, making achieving these important aims all the more difficult.
'As such, we urge the government to commit to making the early years a policy priority, and to properly fund the sector, rather than wasting time on policies like the relaxation of ratios that are likely to worsen existing inequalities.
'For years now we have been calling for a review of the early years system and a clear, comprehensive strategy for our vital sector. How much worse does the situation need to get, for both providers and parents, for the government to finally take action?'
It is the final report from the Nuffield Foundation’s series: The changing face of early childhood in the UK, bringing together more than 90 studies funded by the Nuffield Foundation and the wider research evidence on early childhood and presenting recommendations for policy and practice, as well as priorities for research.
The foundation has also teamed up with Tortoise Media to produce a podcast miniseries called Life, Changing, which takes inspiration from the series. It explores ‘seismic changes’ to early childhood and the realities of life with young children today.
- Download the report here
- The first episode of the podcast series, Modern Families, is now available to stream or download. You can listen on the Tortoise website or app, Spotify, Acast, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
