Dr Claire Cameron of the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the University of London's Institute of Education gave the warning last week to delegates in London attending the first of four regional conferences by the Early Years National Training Organisation on planning for training. She said research into the early years workforce by her team at Thomas Coram found that many early years workers hoped to start their own families in the next five years.
Dr Cameron said this 'would be quite a serious problem for the childcare workforce' because 99 per cent of workers are female, ethnically 90 per cent are white and the majority of childcare students are aged between 16 and 19. Only 16 per cent of day nursery staff are aged 40 or over, while the average age of a nursery head is 40.
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