The research by Action for Children is based upon a survey it carried out of 2,000 parents of children up to the age of five.
Despite the Government’s ‘levelling up’ target to improve learning outcomes at age five, low-income parents were found to be 40 per cent more likely to have problems accessing early years support than high-income families.
Overall, 42 per cent of parents of children under five, equivalent to 2.7 million in total if the figure is applied to parents nationally, had either struggled or been unable to access at least one parenting support service in the past five years, the research found.
Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) had been completely unable to access at least one service, while Black, Asian and minority ethnic parents, younger parents and fathers were more likely to have faced difficulty accessing services.
Meanwhile, the research found that the main barrier (27 per cent) to accessing support was that the services were simply not available in local areas.
Parents who were not within walking distance of services cited the cost of petrol or public transport as their biggest challenge.
The most common worries cited by parents about the impact of being unable to access early years support were:
- feeling isolated or lonely (41 per cent)
- mental health and emotional well-being (41 per cent)
- ability to handle difficult behaviour from their child (37 per cent)
- feeling scared, daunted or anxious about issues relating to parenting (35 per cent)
- housing, finance and employment (35 per cent)
Two-thirds (66 per cent) of parents surveyed said they wanted more high-quality support available to help with their parenting.
Action for Children is now calling on the new Prime Minister to ensure every family has access to key early years services in their local area.
'We urge the next Prime Minister to take urgent action to deliver a long-term plan for early years services.'
Rossanna Trudgian, head of campaigns and public affairs at Action for Children, said, ‘Every child deserves a chance at having the best start in life, that’s why we’re worried that disadvantaged children are being denied access to the services that allow them to catch up and level up for when they start school.
‘We know from our own frontline services that helping families as early as possible is more effective in the long-run so investing in high quality child support and parenting programmes in every community should be a core part of the “levelling-up” agenda.
‘We urge the next Prime Minister to take urgent action to deliver a long-term plan for early years services with sustained investment in parenting support to ensure every child gets the foundations they need to thrive.’
Professor Becky Francis, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, called the findings ‘deeply concerning’.
She commented, ‘Access to high-quality early years education is an important step in ending entrenched education inequality in England. It can play a vital role in making that sure that all children are given the best possible chance of thriving at school, regardless of their background.’
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said, ‘It is disappointing but sadly wholly unsurprising to learn that more than a third of low-income families are struggling to access early parenting support.
‘We know that children’s centres and family hubs are a vital source of support, practical advice and guidance for families across the country, and in particular, disadvantaged and vulnerable families – and yet despite this, the number of centres continues to fall at an incredibly worrying rate, with Government’s own figures showing that more than 1,300 have closed since 2011.
‘Now more than ever, amid rocketing energy prices and soaring inflation, children and their families need support.’
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said access to high quality early education and care should be a ‘right and not a luxury.’
She commented, ‘We cannot over-emphasise the crucial importance of a child’s first five years on the rest of their life. This is a time when their foundations for learning are laid.
‘Missing this opportunity to support children’s early learning and development can result in paying many thousands more to support them in their later schooling and working life.’
A Government spokesperson said, ‘We have made an additional £3.7 billion available to councils this year alone to help them deliver key services and support families.
‘We’re also backing families with better and earlier access to services that keep them safe and healthy by investing millions in expanding a network of Family Hubs all over England and with the Supporting Families programme, which is helping to keep up to 300,000 families together safely and provide loving homes for children. We have also set out plans to tackle the choice and availability of childcare.’
