‘A New Deal for Children?’ – what happened next: A cross-national study of transferring early childhood services into education

Bronwen Cohen, Peter Moss*, Pat Petrie, Jennifer Wallace

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Between 1996–1998, England, Scotland and Sweden moved responsibility for all early childhood education and care (ECEC) and school-age childcare (SACC) services from welfare into education. Following an earlier study researching these reforms up to 2003, this article examines and compares subsequent developments and consequences of the initial reform, from 2003–2017. These differed widely. Sweden succeeded in achieving further integration and better access to services, while services in England and Scotland remained divided and fragmented. England’s attempt at major reform did not survive political change; while Scotland’s more ambitious universalist approach was constrained by lack of appropriate devolved powers and a clear vision of how ECEC and SACC might fit into the education agenda. Undue dominance of the school and the teaching profession posed risks in all three countries. The article considers possible reasons for the differing responses to a common policy change, including the different histories of ECEC and SACC prior to transfer, processes of subsequent policy development, and the effects of differing welfare regimes and path dependency.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)110-127
Number of pages18
JournalEarly Years
Volume41
Issue number2-3
Early online date19 Aug 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • early childhood education and care
  • school-age childcare
  • England
  • Scotland
  • Sweden

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of '‘A New Deal for Children?’ – what happened next: A cross-national study of transferring early childhood services into education'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this