Half of the UK public think early education should be one of the government’s main priorities, with 10% saying it should be the top priority.

The Early Education and Childcare Coalition (EECC) asked people to rate the government’s six key milestones in its new Plan for Change, which included a commitment to ensuring that 75% of five-year-olds would reach a good level of development by 2028..

Half of those surveyed (50%), and 69% of those with children under five said they believe the government should make early education one of its top priorities. This was the third most popular issue behind raising living standards across the UK (29%) and reducing NHS hospital waiting lists (32%), and was ahead of home building, policing and clean energy.

Almost a quarter (24%) of the public with children under two said reducing childcare costs would have the biggest impact on increasing their family income, putting it higher than raising the minimum wage and introducing new tax cuts.

When asked how the government could support children in getting ready for school, the most popular response (26%) was widening the eligibility for funded childcare so that all children can access 30 hours of early education regardless of how many hours their parents work.   

Sarah Ronan, EECC director, said: “This latest poll shows that the public is behind the government as it sets out to give every child the best start in life. Early education and childcare is a critical part of that, supporting children to thrive and reducing child poverty by enabling parents to work. If the Government is serious about hitting that 75% goal, it must widen the criteria for funded childcare so that the poorest children don’t fall further behind.” 

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “While more families than ever are eligible for early entitlement places, early years funding continues to fall far short of what is needed. This leaves many nurseries, pre-schools and childminders with no option but to pass this shortfall onto parents through increased fees for private hours, optional charges, or restrict access to funded places – with those families from more disadvantaged backgrounds often the most affected.”

The poll was carried out by research agency More in Common on behalf of the The Early Education and Childcare Coalition (EECC).  The EECC was founded by more than 30 organisations, including parent campaign groups, child advocacy organisations, childhood experts and anti-poverty campaigners.