Nursery World - Early years is ‘an invisible workforce’

More than nine in ten workers in the early years sector feel they are not respected by Government and policymakers, while seven in ten feel a lack of respect from the public, according to a survey from early childhood platform Famly.

Negative stereotypes are rife, including that working in early years is ‘just babysitting’, ‘playing with toys all day’, and that ‘there’s no skill in the job’.

More than half also believe that the early years has a reputation problem.

Respect the sector – The Early Years Reputation report is based on findings from an online survey carried out last month by Famly, which received 740 responses.

Key findings:

The lack of respect feeds into early years workers’ views of their jobs, with 41 per cent saying they have mixed feelings. Just 39 per cent said they were feeling positive overall about working in early years, with just 12 per cent saying they are very positive. The majority, more than 41 per cent, have mixed feelings about their work.

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