UEL professor calls for fair pay in childcare sector

Professor Eva Lloyd, Emeritus Professor of Early Childhood at the University of East London, has contributed to the national debate on childcare with an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today news programme.

Speaking as the government’s expansion of free childcare hours for working parents came into effect, Professor Lloyd highlighted both the achievements of the policy and the challenges that remain.

She described the rollout of 30 hours of free childcare for children aged nine months to four years as “an impressive achievement,” noting that the government had “picked it up and run with it” after inheriting a difficult situation.

However, she warned that “major challenges” threaten the scheme’s success, particularly around the early years workforce. “We urgently need a workforce strategy,” she told listeners, pointing out that most childcare professionals were earning little more than the minimum wage. “We need to move from being most professionals just above the minimum wage to a proper career structure.”

Professor Lloyd linked this to the need for wider legislative change, noting that the current Employment Rights Bill aims to ensure “fair pay for the adult care workforce” but is not yet aiming to strengthen the position of the childcare workforce

She also emphasised that the government’s economic and social objectives depended on improving quality across the sector. “If the government wants to achieve its economic and opportunity aims, then it will be good if the quality can be good,” she said. “The quality can only be good if the workforce is properly paid. Money matters.”

Professor Lloyd concluded with a call for a more inclusive vision of early years provision. 

At the moment we have a service that we call education, but it’s pretty shocking if that is education for the children of working parents only. The Department for Education is trying to change that, but it has to be done in a comprehensive way, and fast.”