Extra funding should be made available for nursery provision, say researchers Extra funding should be made available for early years care in the wake of the pandemic, researchers say. Experts at the University of Leeds, University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University have made the call after assessing the benefits of early childhood education and care (ECEC) for children under three during COVID-19. They found children who attended childcare outside the home throughout the first UK lockdown made greater gains in language and thinking skills, particularly if they were from less advantaged backgrounds. And now they are making several policy recommendations including