UK study highlights how the ECEC workforce could grow if flexibility was embraced 

Nearly 18,000 early childhood educators could be recruited if roles were more flexible, a new study from social enterprise Timewise has found. 

Although the study was conducted in a UK context, it has implications for early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce development across the world, with many countries, including Australia, battling against ongoing recruitment and retention challenges. 

Building the Early Education and Childcare Workforce of the Future was produced by Timewise following a two-year research project where the social enterprise organisation worked with two early education providers, the Early Years Alliance and the London Early Years Foundation, and was backed by JPMorganChase.  

The report found that the level of part-time work across the early education sector in the UK has fallen in most settings since 2018-19, impacting the recruitment and retention of early educators – with 78 per cent of early years settings saying they are struggling to recruit new staff, according to an Alliance survey. 

The report also compared the working conditions of ECEC employees, noting that staff “work longer hours than people in comparable occupations like retail and hospitality, which offer higher pay and less physically and emotionally demanding work.” 

As in the Australian context, the vast majority of ECEC employees in the UK are female (98 per cent compared with Australia’s 97 per cent) and 45 per cent of them are under 40 years of age.   

“Even in time and resource-constrained nurseries, we have shown it is possible to create flexibility for staff which boosts morale and wellbeing,” Timewise Director of Policy, Clare McNeil said.

“It is clear we need to increase part-time and flexible work to make the sector more competitive and to meet the staffing shortfall for the new entitlement.” 

Commenting from an employee perspective Sarah Ronan, Director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition (EECC) said as a society “we often expect people in early years to deprioritise their own lives and families in order to care for ours, but early educators have needs just like the rest of us – they have families, sports days, and health conditions. If we’re going to attract 35,000 more people into the sector and, critically, encourage them to stay, we need to innovate and take urgent action.”

Again mirroring the Australian experience Ms Ronan said “we can’t rely on the joy (of working with children) alone to build a workforce. We must offer pay and conditions that ensure the early years sector can compete with the rest of the labour market. Greater flexible working is one way of doing that and could be key in meeting the demand created by the expansion of funded childcare.”  

Commenting on the compatibility of flexible working options with a career in ECEC Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance believes the report demonstrates that flexible working isn’t, and shouldn’t be, the domain of those with desk jobs. 

“With flexible working becoming increasingly common across other frontline sectors, such as nursing, it’s vital that early years providers get the support they need to make this new way of working a reality, so that our hard-working education professionals can reap the many benefits that flexible working can bring,” he said. 

To access the report please see here.