This infographic depicts the main findings of the report Key data on early childhood education and care in Europe 2025. The findings are based on analysis of policies in 37 European countries (39 education systems). The report covers the EU 27 Member States and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,...

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a basic right for all children and a foundation for lifelong learning. It plays a critical role in reducing inequalities and enhancing women's participation in the workforce. This third edition of Key data on early childhood education and care in...

Early childhood is a crucial period for skills development and socio-emotional growth. Forcibly displaced children experience significant trauma, necessitating effective interventions. This paper examines the effect of Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs on the psychosocial and...

We adapted a violence-prevention, parenting program (the Irie Homes Toolbox, or IHT) for integration into Jamaican preschool services. The adapted IHT was evaluated in a mixed-method feasibility trial in Kingston, Jamaica. Twenty-four preschools were randomly assigned to intervention (n12) or...

We evaluate impacts heterogeneity of an Early Childhood Intervention, with respect to the Educational Attainment Polygenic Score (EA4 PGS) constructed from DNA data based on GWAS weights from a European population. We find that the EA4 PGS is predictive of several measures of child development,...

We investigate social disparities in digital skills, focusing on both actual proficiency levels and confidence in these skills. Drawing on a representative sample from Germany, we first demonstrate that both dimensions strongly predict labor market success. We then use this sample to identify...

We examine gender gaps in early childhood cognitive and social-behavioral skills across several Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. Our study complements previous research focused on older children by analyzing the preschool period, a critical stage for lifelong human capital...

We evaluate impacts heterogeneity of an Early Childhood Intervention, with respect to the Educational Attainment Polygenic Score (EA4 PGS) constructed from DNA data based on GWAS weights from a European population. We find that the EA4 PGS is predictive of several measures of child development,...

This report brings together the findings of a comprehensive programme of work that IFS has led on the short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start on children's outcomes. At the time this research started, there was little evidence on whether Sure Start had benefited children, especially beyond...

Evidence-based parenting programs are interventions aimed at improving behaviors, parental practices, skills, and knowledge to promote healthy child development, through support and education from professionals or paraprofessionals working directly with the child's caregiver. The objective of...

We evaluate impacts heterogeneity of an Early Childhood Intervention in Colombia, with respect to the Educational Attainment Polygenic Score (EA4 PGS) constructed from DNA data based on GWAS weights from a European population. We find that the EA4 PGS is predictive of several measures of child...

Quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is a priority both at EU level and in many EU Member States. An important outcome of this growing interest has been the development of the European Quality Framework (EQF), a comprehensive framework to define high-quality ECEC (Council of the...

Quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is a priority both at EU level and in many EU Member States. An important outcome of this growing interest has been the development of the European Quality Framework (EQF), a comprehensive framework to define high-quality ECEC (Council of the...

Quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is a priority both at EU level and in many EU Member States. An important outcome of this growing interest has been the development of the European Quality Framework (EQF), a comprehensive framework to define high-quality ECEC (Council of the...

Quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is a priority both at EU level and in many EU Member States. An important outcome of this growing interest has been the development of the European Quality Framework (EQF), a comprehensive framework to define high-quality ECEC (Council of the...

The system-level indicators on early childhood education and care (ECEC) explore main aspects of the situation in Europe regarding the right to affordable ECEC of good quality for all children. These indicators focus on key policies in the areas of access, educational guidelines and staff in 38...

Within the context of the European Education Area (EEA) strategic framework, the working group on early childhood education and care (ECEC WG) supports EU members states to implement the European Quality Framework for ECEC, which is a key part of the 2019 Council Recommendation on High-Quality...

Within the context of the European Education Area (EEA) strategic framework, the working group on early childhood education and care (ECEC WG) supports EU members states to implement the European Quality Framework for ECEC, which is a key part of the 2019 Council Recommendation on High-Quality...

Delivering early childhood programs at scale is a major policy challenge. One way to do so is by using existing public infrastructure. This paper experimentally assesses the short-term impacts of a new government home visiting program integrated into health care services. The program changed the...

We study two early childhood programs in The Gambia for children between 0 and 3 years of age. The basic version of the program, called Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI), provides parents with child health and nutrition information delivered through home visits and community meetings. A...

This paper presents the results from a randomized controlled trial of Chapter One, an early elementary reading tutoring program that embeds part-time tutors into the classroom to provide short bursts of 1:1 instruction. Eligible kindergarten students were randomly assigned to receive...

The debate on the effects of child care policies on household and individual behavior is substantial but lacks a discussion of the unintended consequences of rising wages in the child care work sector. To address this gap in the debate, the relation between rising pay and formal child care...

Not only the quantity of formal daycare provision for young children, but also its quality has become an issue of political concern. This experimental study investigates how a hypothetical improvement in the quality of daycare facilities shapes normative judgements regarding daycare use and...

We estimate the short- and long-term effects of universal preschool education by analyzing the impact of the Israeli Preschool Law, which mandated the provision of public preschool for ages 3 and 4 starting in September 1999. We focus on the Arab population, who were the main beneficiaries of...

We present new estimates of the internal rate of return to early childhood education. Utilizing the nationwide expansion of preschool education in Japan between 1960 and 1980, we initially assess the impact of preschool attendance on high school graduation and college enrollment for men....

This report presents evidence of the short- and medium-term impacts of the programme on educational outcomes. Using a robust evaluation methodology and administrative education data covering 15 cohorts of children, we measure the impact of having had access to a Sure Start centre between ages 0...

This paper explores the intergenerational effects of the 1997 compulsory schooling reform in Turkey, which extended compulsory schooling from five to eight years, on the developmental outcomes of children aged 36 to 59 months. We draw upon data from the 2018 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey,...

Early childhood interventions aim to promote skill acquisition and poverty reduction. While their short-term success is well established, research on longer-term effectiveness is scarce, particularly in LDCs. We present results of a randomized scalable intervention in India, that affected...

Although it is widely acknowledged that high-skilled teachers are integral to service quality and young children's well-being in child care settings, little is known about the qualifications and skills of the child care workforce. This paper combines data from multiple sources to provide a...