The poorest families risk missing out on the government’s expansion of funded childcare, according to a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and Save the Children. 

The analysis found that only a third (36%) of the poorest parents with young children use formal childcare, compared to almost three quarters (73%) of the highest earning households.

More than two-thirds of parents who work in professional jobs such as lawyers, doctors and architects use formal childcare, compared to less than half of parents in elementary occupations such as cleaners, care workers and hairdressers. 

The report also significant variation in access to childcare within a reasonable travel time by local authority, with deprived and rural areas the worst off.  The most deprived areas have 32%fewer places per child and 25% fewer Good-rated places compared to the most affluent areas. Rural areas have 31% fewer places and 29% fewer Good places compared to inner cities and town centres. 

Walsall was ranked worst for access to childcare, with three in four children in living in areas that have some of the worst access to childcare in England. 

The researchers said poor access to childcare was driven by falling numbers of childminders and the lack of places in school-based nurseries. It said the number of schools offering nursery provision has grown since 2018, but the number of children in primary school nurseries reduced by 14% between 2015/16 and 2023/24.  

IPPR and Save the Children propose a series of policies to boost England’s diverse market of 56,000 childcare providers, including by:  

• Establishing new not-for-profit nursery trusts to rival private equity backed for-profit chains, with the aim of helping smaller childcare providers with business support, best practice and achieve the same economies of scale as larger groups. 
• Reinvigorating the role of local authorities including by pooling funding to secure new childcare in the areas of greatest need and more actively brokering the new schools-based nursery expansion. 
• Growing and supporting the supply of childminders by developing a new long-term national strategy which sees them paid monthly to deliver funded entitlements and explores a new childminder friendly national digital platform. 
• Increasing funding for deprived areas and children through raising the Early Years Pupil Premium and increasing weighting for Additional Need in the national formula. 
• Reforming the SEND funding system, giving greater recognition to emerging needs in early years within mainstream funding. 

Jodie Reed, associate fellow at IPPR, said:  “The extension of funded childcare entitlements currently under way is unprecedented. But our analysis shows that if the government doesn’t think differently about the delivery, it could leave the poorest children and families far behind – without access to decent quality provision which matches their needs – and the government far from reaching its Opportunity Mission goals to reduce poverty and narrow gaps in early childhood outcomes.”

Ruth Talbot, policy and advocacy adviser at Save the Children UK, said:  “Childcare that is accessible and affordable is critical for families and while we welcome the recent expansion in provision, major reforms are still needed to fix the system. The innovative proposals presented in this report attempt to deal with childcare deserts, a lack of funding and the patchwork of commissioning services.”