The impact of COVID-19 on the provision of Early Years childcare in England and Wales

Early Years (EY) childcare is critical to the UK economy and society given its positive impact on child development and wellbeing. Without the provision of formal and informal childcare, parents will not be able to return to work during or after the COVID-19 crisis, which will exacerbate intra- and inter-household inequalities. This will be includes notably gender inequalities given women's working-lives are impacted most by the absence of EY and informal childcare through families and friendship networks. The urgent challenges that this research will address in the context of COVID-19 are in relation to: 1) Disruption to and sustainability of provision Formal childcare faced financial difficulties before COVID-19 (Penn et al 2011) and 1 in 4 nurseries said that they may not reopen after the crisis (EYA 2020). It is critical to generate empirical evidence on why and where these closures are occurring, what closures will mean for families, how the changing EY landscape and its sustainability will impact on returns to work and gender and socio-economic (in)equalities. Additionally, it is essential to understand the impact on home-based and informal care. Pre-COVID-19, thousands of nannies and childminders and five million grandparents regularly provided childcare. We will generate knowledge of their ability to provide care, as well as parental responses to loss of informal support and the implications for EY provision. 2) Ensuring safe environments for workers, children and families. Childcare necessitates close physical proximity. Some social distancing and safety measures have been enacted, but better understandings are needed of the challenges this poses for providing safe EY environments, and the additional financial pressures it brings. There is an urgent need to understand how staff, children and families who are clinically vulnerable, and may not be able to return to group settings can be supported. The research seeks to find out: - What are the key pressures on EY childcare provision as a result of COVID-19? - How will the landscape of formal and informal childcare provision change during and after COVID-19? - How can sufficient provision be ensured and made sustainable and safe for providers, staff and families? - How can a more sustainable future for the EY childcare sector be created? This project will respond to these questions and challenges via four Work Packages (WPs): WP1: Nursery and pre-school group providers. A survey of 1000 nurseries over two waves complemented by qualitative interviews with 25 nursery managers and 50 nursery workers across two waves to capture change over time. WP2: Home-based childcare workers: A survey of 500 nannies and 500 childminders plus qualitative interviews with 25 nannies and 25 childminders over the same two waves. WP3: Parents and grandparents: A survey of up to 1000 parents of children aged 0-4 years old, over two waves complemented by qualitative interviews with 25 parents and 25 grandparents who provide at least one day of childcare pre COVID-19 for 0-4 year-olds. WP4: Case studies of four different countries, 2-4 expert interviews with key stakeholders in EY childcare provision, to explore best practice in other contexts and draw lessons for developing policy in the UK. This project will be the first to generate detailed, longitudinal evidence on the immediate and longer-term impacts that COVID-19 has on different types of formal and informal childcare provision across England and Wales. The evidence generated will provide urgently needed insight into the challenges of delivering sustainable childcare in the UK following COVID-19 and potential impact of loss of both formal and informal provision of care.