The Government has launched a recruitment campaign for early years – and is offering people cash to join the childcare profession.
As part of the Do Something Big recruitment drive – being advertised across TV, cinema, online and radio – nursery staff are being offered a £1,000 signing-on bonus in a bid to get enough staff in place before 15 hours of free childcare kicks in for two-year-olds.
The trial – which will cover 20 local authorities across the UK – will give new starters and returners a tax-free cash payment shortly after they take up post.
The recruitment drive comes as the latest data shows that 102,480 children have been registered on the system, reflecting the strength of demand across the country before the first phase of the largest-ever expansion in free childcare kicks in from April.
The roll-out is set to save working parents using the full 30-hour entitlements up to £6,500 per year, something ministers say is “doubling down on this Government’s commitment to deliver a brighter future for Britain and improve economic security and opportunity for everyone.”
Gillian Keegan, education secretary, said: “Parents shouldn’t have to choose between a career and a family, and our expanded childcare offer is going to make sure of that.
“From April, hundreds of thousands of parents of two-year-olds will get 15 funded hours. This is good for families and good for the wider economy – ultimately putting more money in parents’ pockets at the end of the month.
“The fantastic nurseries, childminders and professionals across the childcare sector are central to the success of this roll-out, and our new recruitment campaign will support them in continuing to deliver the flexible and high-quality childcare parents need.”
‘Too little, too late’
However, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the £1,000 sweetener was “too little, too late.”
Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary, said: “It does nothing to address the retention crisis in childcare, or this Tory Government’s chronic underfunding of the childcare sector over the last 13 years.
“Caring for and educating young children is skilled work, and the overwhelmingly female workforce deserves decent pay and conditions. Ministers must introduce a £15 per hour minimum wage for childcare workers, and work with unions to upskill staff and stop the race to the bottom on pay and conditions.
“And they should require childcare employers to end the use of zero-hours contracts and pay decent sick pay to all workers.”
Chaotic system
The Do Something Big recruitment campaign is to encourage people to start a career working with small children.
However, parents warned last month that the free childcare system is in chaos, as thousands reported being unable to obtain a code for the new scheme, while some parents with a code complained it wasn’t accepted by their childcare provider.
At the start of the year, eligible working parents of two-year-old children were encouraged to register for 15 hours of free childcare per week as part of the expanded scheme from April 2024.
But a survey of parents by charity Pregnant Then Screwed suggested that “the execution of the scheme has left parents confused and frustrated, with many still unsure if they can access it”.
