Elevate Great Financing Review 2025

Financing in Early Childhood Education & Care

Our latest rapid review, conducted in partnership with the Henry Smith Foundation, examines how early childhood education and care (ECEC) is financed across ten European countries that demonstrate strong child outcomes, and considers what this could mean for the UK.

What we found: countries achieving better child outcomes share several characteristics absent from the UK system: childcare access as a right rather than an employment benefit, progressive funding and sliding fee scales that protects family incomes, public or tightly controlled non-profit private provision, and sustained investment in workforce development. In comparison, our system is more complex, less equal, less sustainable and results in demonstrably poorer child outcomes.

Why it matters: The evidence indicates that treating ECEC as a public good creates more equitable access and better return on public investment. Most importantly, it’s not necessarily about spending more money, but considering where and how this money is best spent.

What could change: There is a strong evidence base to support a shift towards new models for ECEC financing in the UK. Learning from what is working well elsewhere, through the lens of child outcomes, helps us understand how to change our system, and shows that radical change is both possible and has been achieved elsewhere.