Last week, the Princess of Wales visited a church hall in Southwark, South East London, where she chatted to nursery workers, drank make believe tea with a toddler, and continued to shine a spotlight on a cause we know is close to her heart – the importance of a child’s first five years.
Writing exclusively for The Telegraph at the weekend, mother of three Kate wrote: ‘Over the past 10 years, talking to a wide range of experts about how we deal with societal issues like poor mental and physical health, I have become more and more sure of thing: if we are going to create a healthier and happier society for future generations, we must start by understanding and acknowledging the unique importance of the first five years of life.’
Since launching her Five Big Questions On The Under Fives campaign in 2020, she’s promoted the importance of early childhood years and in June this year met with senior MPs to discuss the importance of early childhood development. Speaking with then-Health Secretary Sajid Javid, families minister Will Quince, and representatives from the early years sector and the Department for Education, she spoke about new research that found 91% of people believe the first five years are crucial, with 70% believing early years development should be prioritised.
At the time she said: ‘Our experiences in early childhood fundamentally impact our whole life and set the foundation for how we go on to thrive as individuals, with one another, as a community and as a society. The findings published today present us with a huge opportunity and demonstrate there is real appetite from the public to bring this issue up all of our agendas. There is more we can all do - every member of society can play a key role, whether that is directly with a child or by investing in the adults around them - the parents, the carers, the early years workforce and more.’
Yet it feels like an opportunity that those in charge are still missing. Earlier this month, the UK officially became the country with the most expensive childcare in the developed world, according to new data by the OECD (it had been hovering in second place for a long time before this). According to money.co.uk, UK parents spend on average a whopping 23.82% of their earnings on childcare (by comparison, Swedish parents pay 2.6%, while French parents pay 13.01%).
We also know the early years sector itself is burning out at an alarming rate. Research over the summer found the UK’s childcare sector is currently in the midst of the worst cost, recruitment and retainment crisis in more than 20 years. Over 80% of nurseries find it hard to recruit staff, almost half have been forced to stop taking on new children due to staff shortages, while a third of nursery staff are considering leaving the sector altogether.
All of which means mothers are being forcedout of the workplace, with one recent study showing 43% of mums are considering leaving their jobs due to the cost of childcare. The cost of living crisis has exacerbated things, with one in four parents now having to cut down on either food, heating or clothing in order to afford childcare.
One solution, Grazia believes, is proper investment in childcare. Which is why last year, along with the campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, we launched our Childcare Change Now campaign, and over 113,000 of you signed our affordable childcare petition, calling on the government to hold an independent review into the cost of childcare.
‘Time and time again research shows if Governments invest in a good quality childcare system, it pays for itself through increased taxes, but it also decreases the attainment gap between the richest and the poorest children,’ says Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed.
Signing off her op-ed, Kate Middleton wrote that she will continue to, ‘do everything I can to secure much greater focus on those first crucial few years for the youngest members of our society – they are, after all, our future.’
We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.