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Investing in the Early Years: priorities and challenges [1]

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Date: 2024-02-15 10:30:53+00:00

The UK government’s latest policy on childcare will see more parents offered free access to provision from April 2024 with the intention of helping them stay in work (HM Treasury 2023). However, the increasing demand for affordable childcare services is happening in an evolving socio-economic landscape marked by a cost of living crisis and rising levels of child poverty. Against this backdrop, panel speakers will discuss what the priorities should be if we are to build a sustainable and high quality early childhood care and education sector that ensures that early years provision is accessible, affordable and benefits all young children, enabling them to flourish.

This event is free.

Key areas of concern

At a time when many household incomes are under severe pressure, there are challenges in the accessibility, affordability and quality of childcare provision. Inequalities in access and complexities of needs have been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, with vulnerable families with children, especially those with special education needs, most likely to miss out on support.

Discussion will focus on how funding and provision can be built in such a way that those with the highest needs are targeted first and will benefit the most. To enable this to happen, a ‘wholesale review’ of the system could usefully begin by looking much more carefully at a funding system that supports quality of provision across a range of different dimensions.

Join us to hear the panel discuss ways forward for the Early Years in the run up to a general election in the UK.

Send in your questions for the panel by emailing edresprog@ucl.ac.uk

What matters in education?

This 'What matters in education?' series is jointly organised by the UCL Institute of Education, Pro-Director Research and the ESRC Education Research Programme (ERP). It aims to create a space for a range of different voices to be heard, and to spark new thinking across education, social research and the wider social sciences on how research, policy and practice can most productively interact.

Co-Chair: Professor Gemma Moss, Director, ESRC Education Research Programme, Professor of Literacy at the UCL Institute of Education, Faculty of Education and Society

Co-Chair: Professor Lynn Ang, Pro-Director and Vice-Dean Research at the UCL Institute of Education, Faculty of Education and Society

Moderator: Dr Becky Taylor, Academic Head of Engagement and Impact at the UCL Institute of Education

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[1] Url: https://theconversation.com/uk/events/investing-in-the-early-years-priorities-and-challenges-13154

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