The two-year-old offer: exploring parents' choice not to participate.

There is an increased understanding of the importance of high-quality early years education for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, in relation to their future attainment and future life chances. A recent government initiative in England has sought to provide two-year-olds, from disadvantaged backgrounds, with free early education and childcare. The take up of this offer by parents has varied. This research project worked with one local charity and one Local Authority to investigate the uptake of the two-year-old offer in a specific location identified as having higher than average levels of child poverty. A small scale, qualitative study was undertaken with the parents, and an online questionnaire was used to gather the data through the local Health Visitor service. Parents provided their views concerning the offer and the reasons behind their choice not to participate. The study revealed some key findings concerning the reasons why parents chose not to participate with the offer. These were related to parental perceptions regarding the impact of the offer on themselves, as parents, as well as the impact on their child. The findings from this research project have implications for practitioners seeking to support the engagement of parents, particularly those living in disadvantaged contexts, with children in their early years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]