Close
YMCA found that the funding rate for three and four-year-old early years education has increased by an average of 3.2%, and 4.4% for two-year-olds in 2023/24. However, one-third (33.8%) of local authorities received a funding increase of just 2% or less for three and four-year-olds, and nearly half (47.7%) received 2% or less for two-year-olds.
Comparing these figures to increases of 10.1% in inflation and 9.7% in National Living Wage, this leaves a 7% shortfall in funding for three and four-year-olds and 5.7% for two-year-olds. This funding gap delivers a particularly hard blow given that wages account for around 70% of early years setting expenditure.
All of this combined means that providers like YMCA are now having to make difficult decisions about their early years settings, with one local YMCA forced to close four nurseries as they were simply no longer viable, leaving 145 children seeking a new early years placement.
Close
Close
Close