Early education entitlements – the disadvantage gap
Eligible working parents in England can now access 30 hours per week of government-funded childcare, for 38 weeks per year for children from aged nine months until they start school. This is very welcome support for working families of young children, who have faced years of increasingly high childcare costs. But many disadvantaged children are excluded:
- Children whose parents do not regularly earn enough to qualify
- Children who have a parent who cannot work due to terminal illness
- Children who have at least one parent in education or training
- Children whose parents are migrants and meet the work criteria but have no recourse to public funds
- Children of disabled single parents
Families who are not in work, or who do not earn enough to be eligible, will need to pay if they want to give their child the same amount of early education in a nursery. Our data shows these costs average £205 per week for a child under the age of two, and between £100 and £193 per week for a two-year-old (depending on whether they are eligible for 15 funded hours for families in receipt of additional support). Our new report shows the gap between government entitlements for disadvantaged children and those with working parents is wider than ever before. That is why we are calling for:
- Immediate action to extend the working parent funded early education entitlements to children whose parents are in training or education, are migrants who meet the work criteria, or who are unable to work due to terminal illness.
- A universal right to 30 hours of funded early education for all children
Research by Coram Family and Childcare
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