95% of councils struggle to recruit childcare workers – despite Hunt’s flagship pledge to boost workforce

Chancellor urged to stop ignoring ‘Cinderella sector’ and bring in £15-an-hour minimum wage for staff

A recruitment crisis in the childcare sector threatens Jeremy Hunt’s pledge to expand free provision boost the workforce, as new figures show the scale of the struggles across England.

The chancellor announced a £4bn expansion of free childcare for all preschool children from 2025 at the Budget – arguing that preventing parents from working was “damaging to our economy”.

But every single English region is struggling to recruit childcare workers, according to new analysis by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) using Coram Family and Childcare survey data.

Nearly all (95 per cent) of English councils said childcare providers in their area are having difficulty recruiting childcare workers with the skills and experience to do the job – and eight in 10 (80 per cent) of local authorities describe it as “very difficult”.

The analysis suggests that childcare recruitment crisis is most acute in the east of England, the west Midlands and the north east – where 100% of councils said providers found it “very difficult” to get sufficient staff.

The TUC said low pay was holding back the push to expand childcare – calling on Mr Hunt to stop ignoring the “Cinderella sector” and bring in a £15 an hour minimum wage for staff.

The chancellor’s March budget encouraged non-working mothers to rejoin the workforce during the cost of living crisis, allowing some families of children as young as nine months in England to claim 30 hours of free childcare a week.

But MPs on the education select committee warned in July that the expansion of state-funded childcare “will not work” unless more is done to address stagnant funding and the recruitment crisis hitting the profession.

While Mr Hunt’s funding package will almost double government spending on early childhood education care by 2025, the committee said that the sector still faced a “severe recruitment challenge” and many providers had been forced to shut down.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced big expansion of childcare at Budget (PA Wire)

The latest Coram survey shows that almost half (48 per cent) of England’s local authorities say that some or many providers have had to cut staff numbers. Some 44 per cent per cent say that some or many providers have cut opening hours.

Union leaders says that both the childcare sector faces a staffing crisis stemming from endemic low pay and insecure work, which hits their predominantly female workforces hard.

More than three in five (62 per cent) childcare assistants and practitioners earn less than the real living wage of just £10.90 an hour, according to new TUC analysis. At £18,4000, childcare practitioners earn only 56 per cent of the median salary for all employees.

“Childcare and social care must stop being Cinderella sectors,” said the TUC general secretary Paul Nowak. “Demand for care is rising. Caring is skilled work, and the overwhelmingly female workforce deserves decent pay and conditions.”

He added: “Ministers must urgently introduce a £15 an hour minimum wage for childcare and social care workers. And ministers should require employers to end the use of zero-hours contracts and pay decent sick pay to all workers.”

Megan Jarvie, head of Coram Family and Childcare, said “it is really concerning that we are seeing struggles to recruit right across the country”. She added: “Action is needed to support the workforce to make sure that every child is able to access high quality early education and childcare.”

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Raising pay, improving training and providing a proper career path are essential to end the recruitment crisis, and make sure people get the care they need and deserve.”

A government spokesperson said it was rolling out the “single biggest investment in childcare in England ever”, with £204m for nurseries this year and £288m next year, which can be used to fund staff salaries, training and wider costs.

They added: “We are also launching a new national campaign to support the recruitment and retention of talented staff and looking to introduce a new accelerated apprenticeship routes so everyone from junior staff to senior leaders can easily move into a career in the sector.”