Transferring Early Childhood Services into Education: cross-national study of three countries

What is it about?

Between 1996 and 1998, England, Scotland and Sweden moved responsibility for all early childhood education and care (ECEC) and school- age childcare (SACC) from welfare into education. This article follows up on an earlier study researching these reforms up to 2003 and examines subsequent developments and consequences from 2003-2017. It finds that Sweden succeeded in achieving further integration and better access to services, while services in England and Scotland remain divided and fragmented.

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Why is it important?

Greater integration of services for children, especially in early childhood, is an aspiration for many countries. This article examines factors affecting success and failure in its implementation in three education and welfare systems, one of which (Sweden) is unitary) while England and Scotland are separate nations within the UK under an asymetric form of devolution. The long timeframe involved has highlighted the significance of contextual differences such as welfare regimes and potential for local leadership. It raises issues around the level of administration and decision-making, particularly in devolved administrations, and points to the importance of ‘path dependency’. Making fundamental and systemic change in Scotland and England was made harder by past decisions and the trajectories to which they have given rise.

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