Every English region is struggling to recruit childcare workers, according to new analysis by the TUC published today (Tuesday) using Coram Family and Childcare data.
Nearly all (95%) of English councils who responded to a survey told Coram that childcare providers in their area were having difficulty recruiting childcare workers with the right skills and experience to do the job – and eight in 10 (80%) local authorities described it as “very difficult”.
The analysis suggests childcare recruitment is most difficult in the East of England, the West Midlands and the North East – where 100% of councils said childcare providers found it “very difficult” to recruit sufficient staff the with the right skills and experience.
And every single one of the local authorities responding in the East of England, the North East, the North West, the South West, the West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside described recruitment of childcare workers as “difficult”.
The analysis is published today as the TUC launches a call for a new care workforce strategy to tackle the staffing crisis facing both childcare and social care in England.
The union body says that both the childcare and social care sectors face a staffing crisis stemming from endemic low pay and insecure work, which hits their predominantly female workforces hard.
Like the childcare sector, the social care sector is also struggling to recruit – the latest figures show there are currently 152,000 vacancies in social care, meaning one in 10 jobs aren’t filled.
The TUC says this is having a huge negative impact on children and adults receiving care and – in the case of social care – placing huge strain on the NHS.
Their research found that more than three in five childcare assistants and practitioners earn less than the real Living Wage (£10.90 an hour) and more than three in five social care workers and senior care workers earn less than the real Living Wage.
Social care workers earn only around 65% of the median salary for all employees (£21,500 per annum compared to £33,000) and childcare practitioners earn only 56% of the median salary for all employees (£18,400), while childcare assistants earn 58% of the median wage (£19,000).
This TUC says this leaves many care workers and their families struggling to survive. More than one in four children with a parent working in social care are growing up below the poverty line.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “We will all rely on care at some point in our lives, whether that’s childcare for our kids or social care for ourselves or our family members.
“The care our loved ones get must be of the highest standard. But that’s only possible if jobs in care are decent and paid well enough to attract and keep the right people.
“Childcare and social care must stop being Cinderella sectors. Demand for care is rising. Caring is skilled work, and the overwhelmingly female workforce deserves decent pay and conditions.
“Ministers must urgently introduce a £15 an hour minimum wage for childcare and social care workers.
“They also need to bring in sector collective bargaining and establish new sector partnership arrangements to up skill care workers and stop the race to the bottom on pay and conditions. And ministers should require employers to end the use of zero-hours contracts and pay decent sick pay to all workers.”
Head of Coram Family and Childcare Megan Jarvie said: “Childcare is a vital part of our infrastructure – it enables parents to work and helps to boost children’s outcomes.
“But achieving these outcomes is reliant on the skills and commitment of the workforce, so it is really concerning that we are seeing struggles to recruit right across the country.
“Action is needed to support the workforce to make sure that every child is able to access high quality early education and childcare.”
