Essays on schooling, gender, and parental leave.

The objective of this study is to examine whether preschool interventions enhance language skills in Swedish children with non-Swedish ethnic backgrounds, and how these interventions can
reduce differences in language skills between Swedish children and children with non-Swedish ethnic backgrounds.    

It seems that Swedish children with immigrant backgrounds who have attended a daycare centre, have stronger language skills than children who have not attended a daycare centre. The study shows that each year at a daycare centre reduces the gap between immigrants and natives by 10%, five years reduce the gap by 50%. This suggests that childcare at daycare centres is an important tool to minimise language development differences between children with non-Swedish ethnic backgrounds and children with a Swedish ethnic backround.

The study is a retrospective cohort study. Data on children born in 1967, 1972, 1977 and 1982 is compared with data from the Education Register, Statistics Sweden and the Multi-Generation Register. Descriptive statistical calculations with linear regression models and linear progression models are included in the analysis.  

Johansson, E.-A. (2009). Essays on schooling, gender, and parental leave. Uppsala: Department of Economics, Uppsala University.