Nursery World - Hodge ties expansion of childcare to pay

Childcare is not going to expand at the expense of a workforce on low salaries, England's minister for children pledged last week. Margaret Hodge made the comment following her address at the Daycare Trust's annual conference in London. During a question and answer session, a nursery nurse from Scotland told her that 5,000 nursery nurses there are on strike for better pay and that a nursery nurse with ten years'

Margaret Hodge made the comment following her address at the Daycare Trust's annual conference in London. During a question and answer session, a nursery nurse from Scotland told her that 5,000 nursery nurses there are on strike for better pay and that a nursery nurse with ten years'

experience could have an annual salary of only 13,500. Mrs Hodge replied, 'I am not going to allow childcare to expand with a low-paid workforce.'

In her keynote speech to the conference, Mrs Hodge described the Government's progress in the early years field over the past five years as 'a triumph for the Government and a triumph for all children'.

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