The Impact of Covid

The pandemic hit an already struggling sector, and since last summer, there have been growing reports of providers about to go under. Within the industry’s fragmented infrastructure, it’s not clear whether this means a crash of the increasingly dominant multinational chains, or—more likely—the remaining quality providers, including the miniscule public sector, which now comprises just 389 nursery schools and the council-run day nurseries.

UNISON, which represents staff at our council day nurseries, put us in touch with the Salford ‘Fight for the Five’ campaign—workers and parents who had successfully saved their nurseries—and we began expanding our network by finding campaigns for public nurseries in Birmingham and Nottingham.

During the first lockdown, we reconnected online through meetings called by Women’s Strike, the New Economics Foundation, Christine Berry, and others. We talked to struggling small nurseries and worker-led groups like the Nanny Solidarity Network, co-founded by Veronica Deutsch, who has described the current situation not as an ‘homogenous “childcare crisis”’ but as ‘myriad exploitations’.

We wanted to join the dots between the multiple crises of childcare that have been exacerbated by the pandemic: early years workers unable to access sick pay or furloughed on starvation wages, thousands of childminders excluded from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, low-paid key and NHS workers forced to rely on at-risk grandparents, largely women left juggling or reducing their hours, and parents on Universal Credit unable to access childcare support because the system makes you pay the fees upfront.

The existing inaccessible and unaffordable situation embeds disadvantage, and sees children with SEND deprived of crucial support – and the inadequate scatter of provision that women are left to individually negotiate can result in a sense of personal failing, rather than collective anger.

January’s announcement that the government would be keeping early years settings open to all children during lockdown has forced childcare workers to put their lives at risk, once again showing a disregard for the vital work of early years education and care.

Calling for Change

Together, our nascent coalition began drafting a set of shared demands which we published as an open letter for people to sign. We call for immediate closure of all early years settings (as with schools) during this current lockdown, but without the fallout hitting struggling quality nurseries, struggling parents—particularly lone parents—or those currently without access to government support. We call for a legal right to furlough for all parent workers, those shielding, and childcare workers based in the home (if settings close).

We also call for consistent SEND support – even for those without an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP). Not all children who require support have this documentation, particularly the youngest. During the first lockdown, Niru tried to be everything and keep her son at home (although he has an EHCP); she quickly saw that the lack of specialist support affected him badly, and became concerned about the long-term impact.

To stop an irreversible loss of remaining quality settings, we call for an urgent but conditional funding injection – no bailouts without a commitment to decent terms and conditions, a Real Living Wage for staff, and provision of affordable, flexible childcare for parents. We need direct funding of nurseries, like schools, and we need to bring all those in receipt of public funding into better democratic accountability.

We also call for early years and SEND support staff to be prioritised for the vaccine. To begin to address existing issues around unpaid care, we call for increases to Child Benefit, removal of the two-child cap, and changes to Universal Credit. Without these conditions, and without an end to No Recourse to Public Funds, the worst exploitations of the childcare crises will continue to be invisible, and intrinsically racist.

The surge of union activity is exciting – the National Education Union and UNISON have joined together to campaign, and membership at the new United Voices of the World branch, United Childcare Workers (UCW), is reported to be soaring. UCW are calling for increased government support for the sector, and in the meantime, are demanding full sick pay. This is crucial to ensure that there is no disincentive for workers to isolate safely. Nannies, au-pairs, and childcare workers based in the home, often migrants, have set up mutual aid structures to support one another to survive the pandemic, and are unionising with IWGB.

Our letter has now been signed by hundreds of parents and childcare workers. It has also been signed by trade union representatives, specialists in early childhood, Helen Pankhurst (grand-daughter of Sylvia), and 17 MPs. In the next few weeks, we will hold an open meeting for all parents, workers, and providers to start building a collective voice to demand a new deal for childcare.

Locally, our campaigning continues. SEND Crisis Tower Hamlets is standing in solidarity with the NEU and fighting cuts to the Support for Learning Service, which helps to make both schools and early years settings inclusive. Early identification of SEND needs and support from the youngest age is vital.

During the first lockdown and the first days of ‘clap for carers’, it felt like something might have shifted – that the exploitative situation had hit the collective national consciousness. Almost a year on, it seems the only consistent government policy has been to continue to devalue all forms of care work.

A new deal which values the important work of child-caring and provides inclusive universal early years education is long overdue. Post-pandemic, if not before, it is ministers who must start working many jobs at once. We demand that they stop the indirect discrimination against women and prioritise the right of all children to an education – and to thrive.