Who uses early childhood education and care services? Comparing socioeconomic selection across five western policy contexts

The purpose of this study is to compare participation rates and socioeconomic selection into ECEC across five different national policy contexts. Focus is on infancy (5-9 months) and early childhood (36-41 months).

The study shows that ECEC participation is lower in infancy in countries where parents have access to at least six months of paid maternity/paternity leave, whereas the attendance rate in early childhood is higher. High participation rates are associated with universal subsidies (i.e. subsidies for ECEC fees not only targeted to low-income families). In general, low income, low maternal education and having more than one child are associated with reduced ECEC participation. In countries with universal subsidies, the effects related to low income and number of children were reduced in cases where parent fees were income-adjusted or reduced for more children, respectively. Most socioeconomic effects are reduced in Norway; the only country to invest more than 1% of its GDP into early childhood. Nevertheless, low maternal education is consistently associated with reduced use of ECEC services across all countries. Among families using ECEC services, there are few selection effects for the type of ECEC setting (centre-based vs. non-centre-based), particularly in early childhood. In summary, the study suggests wide variations in ECEC participation across countries, and these variations can be linked to differences in policy contexts.

The study integrates data from five cohorts of children (a total of 21,437 children) from the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Canada and Norway. The authors used data from five longitudinal studies, all of which contained data about ECEC participation, family background and socioeconomic factors. These studies were compared with regard to ECEC participation, use of centre-based (institution) vs. non-centre-based (care in private home) and the influence of socioeconomic factors on ECEC participation. The authors also tested a number of specific policy elements, including the duration of paid maternity/paternity leave, subsidisation of ECEC services and reduced parent fees due to low income or several children in the family as well as mandatory employment for single parents on welfare. Finally, six demographic and socioeconomic factors were analysed: ethnicity, maternal age, family income, maternal education, single parenthood and number of children in the family.

Petitclerc, A., Côtè, S., Doyle, O., Burchinal, M., Herba, C., Zachrisson, H. D., Boivin, M., Tremblay, R. E., Tiemeier, H., Jaddoe, V. W., & Raat, H. (2017). Who uses early childhood education and care services? Comparing socioeconomic selection across five western policy contexts. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 11(3), 1-24.