Figures show children in poorer areas have lower access to funded childcare

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysis, carried out by analysing Ofsted registered places, shows that affluent areas of the country have the greatest access to childcare and early education and that households in areas with greater access tend to have higher disposable incomes.

The data shows wide variation in the potential level of access to registered childcare places across the country in 2023. The analysis does not measure the affordability of childcare.

Areas with lower levels of access to childcare were generally more likely to have lower disposable household incomes, on average, and a higher proportion of children living in poverty.

The data cites St Albans and Cambridge as areas where families have the highest levels of access to childcare.

According to the data, which analyses access to the most and least childcare places, St Albans has the highest level available at 43 places per 100, with Cambridge close behind on 42. This compares to Walsall and Torridge, which both have just 12 places available out of 100.

Nine out of 10 of the local authority areas with the highest number of childcare places relative to children had a higher than average gross disposable household income (GDHI) per head of the population. The only exception was South Ribble.

In contrast, all the areas with the lowest levels of childcare access had a lower than average GDHI per head, with 6 out of 10 falling in the lowest 10 per cent of local authorities.

GDHI is the amount of money individuals have left to spend or save after they have paid direct and indirect taxes and received any direct benefits. It is a measure intended to reflect the material welfare of households.

The data also shows a relationship between child poverty and access to childcare.

The proportion of children living in relative poverty was generally higher in areas with lower levels of childcare access, and lower in areas with higher levels of access.

There was a particularly strong relationship between childcare access and women's qualifications.

Among women in households with children aged from birth to four-years-old, the proportion with higher education qualifications tended to be higher in areas with higher levels of childcare access.

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said, ‘These statistics paint a troubling picture that echoes the concerns we have been sharing about funded places. They show that those children from disadvantaged backgrounds, who have the most to gain from high quality early education and care, tend to be the least likely to have access to those places.’

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘We're clear that all children, regardless of their background, should be able to access high-quality care and education.

‘It’s incredibly concerning, therefore, to see such a significant disparity between families living in less affluent areas – and with lower disposable incomes – and their wealthier counterparts when it comes to the availability of early years places.’

Both organisations urged the next government to ensure that providers were properly funded to deliver places so that all children could access them, regardless of where they live.

Leitch said, ‘With the majority of government schemes currently focused on supporting working families, unless we see an urgent shift in early years policy focus, there is a real danger of a whole generation of children from more disadvantaged backgrounds being left behind – despite the wealth of research showing that they are the children likely to benefit the most from access to a quality early education.’

Tanuku added, ‘Children from poorer backgrounds who don’t receive this support early on will arrive at primary school many months behind their peers and this persists onto secondary school and later life chances.

‘One immediate action the next government could take is to bring the early years pupil premium in line with the rates paid at primary school. This has to be done alongside a review of the funding rates across the board for early years.’

• The interactive data, which can be searched by postcode and local authority area, is available here