Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) is a charity and membership organisation based in London and working in England and Wales.

A standard-setting organisation, it promotes best practice and support childcare professionals to deliver high standards of care and learning.

They are usually self-employed and are inspected by Ofsted in England [3][11] or the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) [4][12] to ensure they are providing a safe and stimulating environment for these children.

[13] At its 2005 annual conference, the organisation's then-President, British childcare expert Dr Penelope Leach, outlined details of the findings of the longest and most detailed studies of UK childcare, which concluded that young children who are looked after by their mothers do significantly better in developmental tests than those cared for in nurseries, by childminders or relatives.

The study, by researchers led by Leach and colleagues Kathy Sylva and Alan Stein, began in 1998 and involved 1,200 children and their families from north London and Oxfordshire.

[17] In 2001, the Association campaigned for a reversal of new government regulations which allowed childminders to smack babies and toddlers and to smoke in the presence of children with parents' consent.