Commenting on research from the Fairness Foundation which shows that eight in 10 Britons think early years workers’ pay is too low, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“The early years are a crucial part of children’s education. These findings show that parents recognise the important role that early years educators play and that staff working conditions are also children’s learning conditions.
“Parents can see the impact of paltry levels of funding and poor working conditions on early education. They are also united with educators in wanting early years education to be held in the same esteem as the rest of the education sector. They recognise that a properly funded early years sector is crucial to any attempts to improve the educational outcomes of children across the country.
“Parents and educators are right to expect better.
“It is now the government who must wake up and address the crisis in our early years. The government must urgently increase levels of funding for early years provision so that staff can be paid fair wages and all families can access a high-quality early education.”