Expert warns: ensure parents are able to enjoy ‘magic years’
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Published
14 November 2025
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Leading University of East London academic Professor Eva Lloyd OBE has called for protection of the “magic years” of early childhood by relieving pressures on parents.
Professor Lloyd’s appearance before Parliament’s Education Select Committee on 11 November formed part of the inquiry into Early Years: Improving Support for Children and Parents - a platform where she drew on decades of expertise to influence national early years policy.
Professor Lloyd, Emeritus Professor of Early Childhood, said many parents were under enormous pressure related to employment and often poverty while raising their young children.
She warned MPs,
I feel that currently the way we’ve organised our society and our communities really interferes with parents being able to enjoy their children, and these are the magic years - zero to five. And with children [being able] to enjoy their parents, with their parents not being harassed and worried.”
This was a common problem, she said, and parents “are almost relieved when their children are out of the early years, and things have maybe become more predictable”.
Professor Lloyd also argued that the Government’s Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life strategy represents “a welcome step forward” but risks falling short without urgent attention to workforce quality, equitable access, and pay conditions.
“Successful early years workforce recruitment, retention, and wellbeing are preconditions for the realisation of the strategy’s ambitions,” she said in her written submission, stressing that pay and conditions for practitioners “must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
She also raised concerns about the widening gap in access for disadvantaged families. “Children in the 30 per cent lowest-income households will not benefit directly from the expansion in early years provision,” she said.
Professor Lloyd’s testimony drew attention to the long-term risks of a market-driven childcare system and highlighted international models, including Ireland’s, where legally enforceable pay structures have helped stabilise the workforce and improve quality.
Her evidence also welcomed greater family support through community-based initiatives such as Family Hubs, which she described as “an effective way to support parents of under-fives.”
“If all children are to benefit equally from early education and care and thus have the best start in life, we need to act early to ensure all children can thrive.”
The appearance of Professor Lloyd, from the School of Childhood and Social Care, underscores UEL’s growing influence in shaping national debates on healthcare and childcare.
Earlier this month, Executive Dean of the School of Health, Sport and Bioscience, Mr Robert Waterson, gave evidence to an All-Party Parliamentary Group on the University’s Neighbourhood Health Hub, a pioneering community care initiative.