Mendizabal-Espinosa, Rosa; Bonhote, Kate; Ko, Sum Yue Jessica; Dickson, Kelly; (2024) Increasing Access to Childcare for Ethnic Minority and Disadvantaged Communities. EPPI Centre, UCL Social Research Institute, UCL Institute of Education: London, UK.

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Abstract

olicy initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which have set a 2030 target to ensure all children, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, have access to quality early childhood education, including pre-primary schooling. Similarly, the G20 Initiative for Early Childhood Development (ECD) aims to promote access to quality early childhood education and development programs to support a foundation of lifelong learning (Richter et al., 2018). The G20 Initiative for ECD also highlights the need for government buy-in and financial investments during the early years to narrow achievement and opportunity gaps between children from different backgrounds. Across the UK, the early years sector has seen an expansion in the number of free childcare hours available to parents of young children, with eligibility differing across the four nations but focused mainly on term-time childcare for working parents of two to four-year-olds, with additional eligibility for disadvantaged families. UK policymakers and practitioners have also been collaborating to examine the challenges disadvantaged families face in accessing childcare services and the potential facilitators and barriers they encounter to help inform this phased expansion of the Early Years Provision. // Low participation and poorer experiences in early childhood education and care ECEC among Black, Asian, and minority ethnic children and families have been recognised by the Welsh Government’s Anti-racist Wales Action Plan, which highlights the importance of ECEC for child development, social integration, and parents' ability to work. There is a need for more clear and recent data to understand the scale and nature of the participation challenge faced by these ethnic minority children and families, and to identify the barriers and facilitators that policy can address. This evidence is crucial for informing the expansion of ECEC provision in the UK and supporting the delivery of the Anti-racist Wales Action Plan.

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