Mental health and the early years workforce
In April 2018, the Alliance launched its landmark Minds Matter survey, looking at the impact of working in childcare and the early years sector on practitioners' mental health.
More than 2,000 of you responded — including nursery managers, nursery workers and childminders — making it our biggest survey ever.
The findings revealed:
- a sector struggling with the impact of excessive paperwork and administration, financial instability due to inadequate government funding, and low pay
- that most of you are often stressed about work and that work-related mental health issues have had an impact on your personal relationships
- a quarter of you are thinking about leaving the early years sector entirely.
We're now working with the Department for Education and аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø¿ª½± on a joint Early Years Workload project to better understand and address the concerns around workload, and particularly paperwork and administration, raised in our report.
This initiative includes a series of focus groups held across the country, followed by a sector-wide online survey in the spring to ensure that every single practitioner has the opportunity feed back their views on this important issue.
To keep up to date on our latest progress on this, make sure you are following our and pages.
Read the full Minds Matter report
Resources for you
Blogs and articles
(Alliance blog)
— Rob McGeal, policy advisor at the Health and Safety Executive, explains how to mitigate the impact of workplace stress on staff (Under 5 magazine article)
(Alliance blog)
— YogaBugs share some ideas about why and how you can bring yoga practices into your setting (Under 5 magazine article)
Publications and mini guides
— (Under 5 magazine) —&²Ô²ú²õ±è;A quick guide to keeping records and all the paperwork needed to meet requirements
—&²Ô²ú²õ±è; (Publication)
— We have a wide range of publications and resources to support your work in our
— Developing a business plan and budget* — An effective business plan and budget will help you achieve your setting's aims and be financially ready for the future.
*This is only available to Alliance members and can be downloaded for free from the Business Management section in the Members' Area.
Further help
In the news
