The kindergartens in England closed, due to the economic crisis.
The results of an official investigation in England show that the crisis of rising costs has led to the closure of kindergartens in this country.
The British government’s research on the impact of the cost of living crisis on the child care sector shows that one out of every 10 centers operating in this field is at risk of closing, and more than half of them have had problems meeting their expenses.
Yahoo News, reporting this news, added that these figures raise concerns about the growth capacity of this sector and its achievement of the 4 billion pound expansion planned by the government in order to fulfill the London plan to “provide free childcare services” as planned in the budget. .
In the UK, parents who work more than 16 hours a week and earn less than £100,000 are entitled to 30 hours of free childcare a week for children aged three and four. The government has committed to expand this scheme to include all children over 9 months between 2027 and 2028.
Neil Leach, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said the government should focus on fixing the problems with the current system, which is the result of years of neglect, rather than heaping more pressure on the sector by making big promises about free childcare.
A Department for Education (DfE) report, based on a survey last November of 1,857 childcare providers, found that 10 per cent thought they were likely to be forced to close due to cost pressures, while another 2 per cent said they would. They plan to do this within the next 6 months. who intend to do this.
Almost half of these centers (47%) reported that their income was not enough to cover their expenses. This statistic shows a 12% increase compared to the winter of 2021, when only a third of these centers had this opinion (35%). Personnel costs and energy bills are the main drivers of increasing cost pressure on the centers of this sector.
