Yesterday, within his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced the national living wage, for workers aged 23 and over, will rise from the current £9.50 to £10.42 – an increase of 92p or 9.7 per cent.
While early years organisations, childcare providers and others in the sector recognised the need to increase wages, many expressed concern about the the impact it will have on settings, further risking their financial sustainability amid a cost-of-living crisis with inflation at a record high and energy bills continuing to rise.
Nursery World’s 2022 lifetime achievement award winner, David Wright, ambassador for the Paint Pots nursery group in Southampton, tweeted, ‘Surely @educationgovuk is fully aware that without any additional finance, multiple early years settings will not be able to pay the minimum wage uplift next April and will be forced to close?’
He added, ‘Unless funding rates rise to cover the wage increases, there will no longer be an early years sector and certainly not for disadvantaged families.’
Author and teacher Sue Cowley tweeted, ‘Maybe @APPGearlyyears can discuss the massive issues that will be cause for early years settings when the MW [minimum wage] goes up by 10 per cent [sic]. Govt will need to increase funding by that amount as well or settings will close.’
Chief executive of nursery group LEYF @JuneOSullivan commented, ‘So, team #earlyyears, the living wage is up to £10.42 and the funding stays at less than £6. Had the #Chancellor miscalculated or does it need a crash course in basic numbers?’
The Early Years Alliance warned that without more funding, the wage increase would be ‘unsustainable’ for the sector.
The National Day Nurseries Association said it was lobbying Government to uplift the funding rate so they would be able to cover the new national living wage rate next year.
In a response to a tweet, it said it had been plotting nursery closures and had seen an increase in the rate of those being shut down compared to last year.
