All employers providing care, education and playwork are required to register under the Children Act 1989 (as amended by the Care Standards Act 1999) if they are not closely related to the children, and are working for two or more hours a day; for reward; and outside the child’s own home.

There are many different types of organisations offering early years, education and childcare:

• independent private settings working for profit owned by companies or individuals, ranging from large nursery chains with hundreds of settings to owner-manager with only one setting. Workplace nurseries are classed within the private sector even though they may be run for the benefit of particular employees.
• childminders are self-employed individuals working from home. Increasingly, childminders are forming ‘childminding networks’.
• nannies are sometimes self-employed, but more often are employees of a family. Some nannies work for agencies.
• voluntary sector comprises groups operated by a voluntary management committee and run for the benefit of the community rather than for profit (e.g. pre-school playgroups, parent/toddler groups, community day nurseries). Despite its name, most workers in the voluntary sector are paid employees, not volunteers.
• public sector provision includes school-based services, such as nursery classes, and nursery schools, local authority day nurseries and nursery centres.

Source: Early Years NTO 2001

The number of paid employees has increased in recent years, especially in full day-care settings. In 2003, 82,550 people worked in early years settings (4,350 in nursery schools; 43,900 in primary schools with nursery and reception classes; and 34,300 in primary schools with reception classes). (No data were available for 2001).

Changes in numbers of paid employees in childcare, 2001-2003

- no data are available

Source: SureStart 2004, table 4.1. Based on MORI data.

The sector faces the overall problem of a rise in demand for its services and a tight labour market. Whilst it is difficult to say what the introduction of the SureStart and further plans of the government mean for the size of the workforce, it is clear that government plans will not be achieved without an increase in the numbers of early years practitioners.

Many settings experience massive staff turnover:

• around half to three quarters of all settings have been involved in recruiting over the last 12 months
• many settings also lost staff in the last 12 months, but at a lower rate than they were recruiting
• the highest turnover rates are for ‘out of schools clubs’ and full day-care settings (23% and 18%)
• the lowest turnover rates were reported by primary schools (9%)

There are a number of government initiatives, which will need to be staffed, and these will call for workers with new skills or combination of skills, such as:

• additional inspectors for employment by OfSTED
• cross-disciplinary staff for early excellence centres and sure start schemes
• staff with experience in of community work and the needs of families in disadvantaged areas for neighbourhood nursery initiatives
• extra tutors, assessors and mentors for the required increase in training, qualifications and quality assurance schemes

Retention has been identified as a problem for the sector and there are a number of reasons. Workers are usually young women who intend to leave the occupation when they have their own children, or in case of childminders, women with young children who wish to stay at home until they go to school. Also, pay and condition compare poorly with other occupations. Finally, quality and qualification thresholds are rising, contributing to professionalisation but making this a more demanding occupation to pursue.

TOPSS, the workforce development body for social care, quotes a DfES survey, in which recruitment and retention problems in early years childcare settings were reported. 59% of nurseries, 26% of playgroups and pre-schools and 49% of out-of-school playgroups reported recruitment difficulties. The destination of more than 50% of staff leaving was either other jobs within the childcare sector or within schools/the education sector.

Sources: SureStart 2004, Eborall 2003, Early Years NTO 2001 and Cameron, et al. 2001