Nursery World - Poorer children gain most from universal childcare

Children from immigrant and disadvantaged backgrounds benefit most from universal childcare but are least likely to access it, research has found.

A study by the Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM) at University College London has found that while universal childcare from the age of three improves the school readiness of children from immigrant and disadvantaged families, it only has a modest impact on children from more well-off backgrounds.

The study, to be published in the Journal of Political Economy, also said children from immigrant and disadvantaged families are less likely to use childcare places, and suggested a variety of reasons for this:

?The research is based on German administrative data from between 1994 and 2002. A reform entitling all children to a subsidised part-time childcare place from their third birthday led to a large expansion in childcare places in Germany during the 1990s.

The researchers warned that although the data used was from Germany, the findings could equally be applied to England, where the 30 hours offer may not succeed in attracting significant numbers of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and therefore could fail to radically improve children’s outcomes.??

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