Ministers have been urged to drag childcare services into the 21st century if a major crisis is to be prevented.

Experts said the government should open "a mouldering can of worms" and create a new childcare workforce that combines education with care.

A report by the national charity the Daycare Trust, published on Wednesday, said Britain should follow the examples of Denmark and Sweden by integrating services.

Forum Response: Professional Association of Teachers

Tricia Pritchard, PAT professional officer said: "Childcarers in many cases are under qualified because the funding of training has not been fully supported, leaving childcarers with very little choice when it comes to continuing professional development and potential childcarers with very little training opportunities.

"Whilst providers of childcare receive no subsidies and parents have to find the majority of their childcare costs themselves, the only way employers can remain competitive and keep overheads low, is to pay low salaries.

"Funding must be made available for training and further training and incentives offered to attract people into the profession - recognised qualifications with a marketable value, together with the creation of a professional career ladder which does not solely promote a fast track to teaching. Childcarers do not necessarily want to become teachers and often are frightened off childcare opportunities for fear of being "pushed" into teaching. They wish to be given the opportunities to progress within childcare.

"Parents must be given substantial relief on their childcare costs enabling them to buy high quality childcare at a realistic price. Nurseries and daycare providers would then be in a position to pay realistic salaries, retain their staff and attract suitably trained new recruits.

"We believe that the childcare workforce is already linked and combines education with care. In many ways we already have integrated services but more should be done to formalise these links.

"More must be done to attract men in to childcare and we believe that one way to do this would be to establish a career path. The poor salary, status, and lack of opportunities, together with the stereotypical image problems, deter men from joining the profession.

"A first step to improve the situation would be to dispel the myth - 'anyone can do it'."