Title: The impact of COVID-19 on the provision of Early Years childcare in England and Wales
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: The research objectives are to provide evidence to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and overcome the challenges of sustainability faced by the Early Years (EY) childcare sector in England and Wales. These two primary challenges, or objectives, detailed below are interrelated and of equal importance. 1) Mitigating disruption to and sustainability of provision Formal childcare faced financial difficulties before COVID-19 (Penn et al 2011). 1 in 4 nurseries have stated that they may not reopen after the crisis (EYA 2020). The CEEDA Covid Tracker is tracking numbers of nursery closures, but it is a critical objective of this research project to generate empirical evidence on why and where these closures are occurring, what closures will mean for families, how the changing EY landscape and its sustainability will impact on returns to work and gender and socio-economic (in)equalities. Additionally, it is essential to understand the impact on home-based and informal care, including that provided by paid nannies and childminders, as well as informal care delivered by the extended family. Pre-COVID-19, five million grandparents regularly provided childcare. We will generate knowledge of grandparents' ability to provide care, parental responses to loss of informal support and the implications for EY provision. The key objective here is to understand the shifting landscape and distribution of the delivery of formal and informal childcare across the sector, within and beyond nursery settings. 2) Ensuring safe environments for staff, children and their families Childcare necessitates close physical proximity, which is known to be high risk for the transmission of the Covid-19 virus. Some social distancing and safety measures have been enacted within childcare settings, but there is an absence of knowledge about the challenges that close proximity care poses for providing safe EY environments, and the additional financial pressures it brings (for example practitioners and children working in smaller bubbles) including space and other resource constraints. There is also an urgent need to understand how staff, children and families who are clinically vulnerable, and may not be able to return to group settings, can be supported. Addressing these challenges and associated knowledge gaps are key objectives of this research and will enable us to generate policy and interventions to ensure safe care and a more resilient future for this vital sector of the economy. We are seeking to understand: 1) How new knowledge about innovations in policy and best practice solutions can forge a more resilient and sustainable future for the EY childcare sector 2 The key pressures on EY childcare provision as a result of COVID-19 3) How sufficient provision can be ensured and made sustainable and safe for providers, staff and families 4) How the landscape of formal and informal childcare provision has changed during COVID-19 Overall, this mixed methods research, over four work packages will be undertaken at two time points (Autumn 2020 and Spring 2021) and will add value by informing more innovative and resilient childcare policies for the future. We will provide policy and practice stakeholders with rapid and critical data on the challenges faced by both the EY childcare sector and by parents as they attempt to return to work. Working closely with our Digital Advisory Board (DAB) members and partners will enhance both the practical and policy reach.

Lay abstract: Early Years (EY) childcare is critical to the UK economy and society given its positive impact on child development and wellbeing. Without the provision of formal and informal childcare, parents will not be able to return to work during or after the COVID-19 crisis, which will exacerbate intra- and inter-household inequalities. This will be includes notably gender inequalities given women's working-lives are impacted most by the absence of EY and informal childcare through families and friendship networks. The urgent challenges that this research will address in the context of COVID-19 are in relation to: 1) Disruption to and sustainability of provision Formal childcare faced financial difficulties before COVID-19 (Penn et al 2011) and 1 in 4 nurseries said that they may not reopen after the crisis (EYA 2020). It is critical to generate empirical evidence on why and where these closures are occurring, what closures will mean for families, how the changing EY landscape and its sustainability will impact on returns to work and gender and socio-economic (in)equalities. Additionally, it is essential to understand the impact on home-based and informal care. Pre-COVID-19, thousands of nannies and childminders and five million grandparents regularly provided childcare. We will generate knowledge of their ability to provide care, as well as parental responses to loss of informal support and the implications for EY provision. 2) Ensuring safe environments for workers, children and families. Childcare necessitates close physical proximity. Some social distancing and safety measures have been enacted, but better understandings are needed of the challenges this poses for providing safe EY environments, and the additional financial pressures it brings. There is an urgent need to understand how staff, children and families who are clinically vulnerable, and may not be able to return to group settings can be supported. The research seeks to find out: - What are the key pressures on EY childcare provision as a result of COVID-19? - How will the landscape of formal and informal childcare provision change during and after COVID-19? - How can sufficient provision be ensured and made sustainable and safe for providers, staff and families? - How can a more sustainable future for the EY childcare sector be created? This project will respond to these questions and challenges via four Work Packages (WPs): WP1: Nursery and pre-school group providers. A survey of 1000 nurseries over two waves complemented by qualitative interviews with 25 nursery managers and 50 nursery workers across two waves to capture change over time. WP2: Home-based childcare workers: A survey of 500 nannies and 500 childminders plus qualitative interviews with 25 nannies and 25 childminders over the same two waves. WP3: Parents and grandparents: A survey of up to 1000 parents of children aged 0-4 years old, over two waves complemented by qualitative interviews with 25 parents and 25 grandparents who provide at least one day of childcare pre COVID-19 for 0-4 year-olds. WP4: Case studies of four different countries, 2-4 expert interviews with key stakeholders in EY childcare provision, to explore best practice in other contexts and draw lessons for developing policy in the UK. This project will be the first to generate detailed, longitudinal evidence on the immediate and longer-term impacts that COVID-19 has on different types of formal and informal childcare provision across England and Wales. The evidence generated will provide urgently needed insight into the challenges of delivering sustainable childcare in the UK following COVID-19 and potential impact of loss of both formal and informal provision of care.

Research activity codes: 1.2 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROCESSES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE;INFECTION