Cambridge is booming. Many people move here for jobs, they set up home and start families. This is great for the area but despite what Cambridgeshire County Council may say there is a dire shortage of nursery provision in these growth areas.

I know that the government plans to reuse redundant classrooms in schools as nurseries. Setting aside the suitability of these for babies and toddlers, there aren’t redundant classrooms in the areas that need more nursery spaces. In fact, these areas are expanding and opening more primary schools because of the need for school places.

It’s not only Beach Babies that has long waiting lists. I know the people who run all our surrounding nurseries and they are all full until September 2025 or 2026 and by next spring will be fully booked until Sept 2026. Why September? That’s because whilst children are born and join us throughout the year they only leave us to start school once a year.

Nurseries legally have to limit the number of children they take in each age group, at Beach Babies group sizes range from a maximum of 10 in one room up to 20 in the biggest room. When you enquire about booking your child in we are checking that we have space for them in every room as they age and move through the nursery. Furthermore, at Beach Babies we only have one new child starting in each room (usually in the Baby Room) each fortnight. This allows us to give each new baby the extra care and attention they need to settle in and become happy at nursery as quickly as possible. In practice this means that at Wilburton we only have 2 possible start dates for children between January and May and only 2 patterns of attendance days that we have space for these two potential children to attend on.

What’s the solution?

Well at a family level, plan well in advance, I mean when you are 12 weeks pregnant. Engage with the nurseries you’re considering as early as possible, this will give you the best choice of nursery for your child. Talk to your employer and explain why you need a decision on what days you need to book at nursery 18 months before you will return to work!

On a bigger scale the reason that there are insufficient spaces is twofold. Partly because nursery premises need specified amounts of indoor space, outdoor space and car parking and these are all very expensive in locations that are popular which is where they are most needed. Secondly, recruitment and retention of staff is a massive issue for the industry as a whole. For example: a job in Aldi comes with more flexibility on hours and holidays and more pay than 90% of nurseries can offer. The reason that nurseries pay low wages is because paying more increases the costs to parents who struggle to afford childcare at the current price and the funding from local and national government is too low to cover what it was meant to fund.

One of the worst long-term effects of this shortage of nursery spaces is that it disadvantages working parents, most often mothers, who cannot find spaces to allow them to do the jobs they want to do. This is for several reasons:

  • Because they waited until their baby has been born, I completely understand this but I hate explaining to 4 families each week that we don’t have any spaces until 6 months after the end of their parental leave.
  • Because one parent wants to change their work pattern and their employer won’t discuss the specific days far enough in advance.
  • Because they have relocated to the area and need childcare when they move.
  • Because they or their job changes and the new working pattern is different to the one they had originally planned.

All of this is economically damaging and limits Cambridge’s prosperity and the lives and careers of many parents across the county.