The Fairness Foundation survey, which received 2,052 responses, asked whether respondents, in principle, think it is the role of the Government to provide the funding to ensure that everyone can access a minimum level of provision in seven areas: social care, early years education and care, public transport, social or rented housing provision, lifelong learning, a minimum income and income protection.
When asked to prioritise the seven areas by ranking them from one (fully funded) to seven (not funded at all) on the assumption that only half of the necessary funding to support all seven was available, the highest-ranked areas were social care and early years.
A total of 84 per cent of those that took part in the survey agreed that Government should, in principle, fund minimum levels of provision for early years.
Will Snell, chief executive of the Fairness Foundation, said, ‘We found very high levels of support for an interventionist state that invests more in its citizens, so that they in turn can contribute more to our society and economy. This support held across people of different generations, regions, genders, ethnicities, and levels of income, with surprisingly small differences between supporters of the main political parties.
‘The polling showed that belief in a small state is now a minority sport in the UK. People know that the social contract - the unwritten expectation that we contribute to society, and society will support us in return - is under severe strain in the UK. It’s no longer safe to expect that a hard day’s work will be rewarded with a decent wage and being able to afford basic necessities such as housing, food and energy. And the outlook is even worse if you can’t work and depend on benefits.
‘In principle, people want Government to invest and regulate so that everyone can access minimum levels of provision in a range of areas, from the early years to social care, from social or rented housing to public transport. We need to reimagine the social contract for the 21st century.’
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, 'We have always argued that investment into the early years should be seen as an investment into society, and so we warmly welcome the fact that such a large majority of the general public agree that it is the Government's responsibility to ensure equal access to early years services in this country.
'As conversations around early years provision, and the role of Government, continue, it is vital that this focus on quality isn't lost.'
