Under the current childcare system, many families in England are missing out on extra support from the government. In this guest blog, Director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, Sarah Ronan, reiterates the importance of improving access to funded early education and outlines what is needed to ensure the system delivers for all families.

Last month, the Government published its long-awaited Best Start in Life Strategy to a warm reception. As a vision of what the early years could and should look like, it is strong: a more integrated system of support for families, recognition of the complexity of the current childcare model, and a clear focus on raising the status of the early education workforce.

Perhaps most importantly, the strategy is framed around a mission that everyone can get behind: breaking the link between a child’s background and their future success. This mission is at the heart of the work we do at the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, and one shared by the Sutton Trust through both its Fair Start campaign and broader early years policy work. The Government’s acknowledgement that this mission begins in the early years marks a significant and welcome shift in tone.

Yet, despite its strengths, the strategy has a glaring omission.

It does not address the fact that the children who stand to gain the most from early education are still the least likely to access it. In England today, access to high-quality early education depends far too often on a family’s circumstances rather than on a child’s needs. Decades of evidence show that the very children currently locked out are the ones who would benefit most.

One driver of this inequality is a market that discourages private providers from operating in deprived areas where profit margins are low, creating “childcare deserts.” But equally troubling is the restrictive eligibility criteria for the 30-hour childcare offer for 3 and 4 year olds. Introduced in 2017, this policy was primarily designed to improve access to affordable childcare for working parents. But the extra support on offer is tied to parents’ work status, with access to additional funded hours dictated by the number of hours they work and how much they earn. That might make sense if childcare were solely about enabling parents to work, but as we and the Government know, childcare for parents is also early education for children, and those benefits should not be conditional.

In practice, these rules lock out thousands of children from low-income households, those with parents in insecure jobs, or families facing barriers to work. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that the poorest third of children receive no direct benefit from the expansion of the new entitlements, while five-sixths of the Government’s investment is simply a transfer of payment, covering childcare that better-off parents would have paid for themselves.

This entrenches inequality, risks widening the attainment gap, and represents poor value for money for the taxpayer, when research shows the highest return on investment comes from enabling disadvantaged children to access high-quality provision.

Our Pulse Check 2025 research reinforces this point. Public opinion is clear: 71% of people believe all children should have the right to access government-funded early education and childcare regardless of their parents’ employment status, while 73% believe this right should apply no matter where a child lives, underlining public support for tackling the regional inequalities that have emerged. This consensus cuts across income groups and political affiliations, reflecting a growing view that early education is a child’s right, not a conditional benefit.

This is not just an education problem, it is also a child poverty problem. Affordable, high-quality childcare plays a dual role, helping children and parents alike. It supports children’s development in the crucial early years and enables parents, especially mothers, to work, train, and increase their income. Without it, families remain locked out of the labour market and children miss out on opportunities to thrive.

Too often, in the push to meet the Government’s “good level of development” target, we overlook the role that a secure, financially resilient household plays in children’s outcomes. In disadvantaged areas, where early education could be transformative, market forces alone will not bridge the gap. And in many childcare deserts, the promise of funded hours is meaningless because there are no places to take up.

The Best Start in Life strategy sets out a vision for reform, but without tackling access head-on, it will fall short of delivering on its promise of fairness. To truly break the link between background and opportunity, we need to reshape the vision around three core principles:

  1. Equal access for every child. Early education should be an entitlement based on a child’s right to learn, not their parents’ work status. Eligibility should be extended to all low-income and vulnerable families.
  2. Investment where it’s needed most. Targeted funding must go to disadvantaged areas and settings, recognising that the market alone cannot deliver provision where private demand is low but family need is high. Government should also explore social purpose business models and incentives to stimulate provision in these areas.
  3. A strong, valued workforce. A high-quality system cannot exist without the skilled professionals who deliver it. Sustained investment in pay, training, and career progression is essential to recruit and retain the workforce needed to give every child the best start.

We already know what works: high-quality early education and childcare is one of the smartest, most cost-effective investments a government can make. It reduces poverty, strengthens the economy, and gives every child a genuine chance to thrive. The question is whether this government is willing to make that investment in every child, not just those who meet a narrow set of criteria.

Breaking the link between background and opportunity does not start at the school gate, it starts in the nursery doorway. And right now, too many of those doors remain closed.

The opinions of guest authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Sutton Trust.