Governance%20of%20Early%20Care%20and%20Education%20Politics%20and%20Policy%20in%20France%20and%20Sweden

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Governance of Early Care and EducationPolitics
and Policy in France and Sweden

• Michelle J. Neuman, Ph.D.
• Columbia University
• EECERA Conference, Prague 31 August, 2007

Research funding from German Marshall Fund of
the U.S., American-Scandinavian Foundation,
Council for European Studies/Florence Gould
Foundation, Teachers College Office for Policy
Research, and Columbia University Public Policy
Consortium.
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Rationale for the Study

• Why governance of ECE?
• Why France and Sweden?
• Why 1980-2005?

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Three Institutional Dimensions of ECE Governance
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Case Selection
Case study country Administrative integration Privatization Decentralization
FRANCE Divided auspices education 2-6 yrs health/social 0-3 yrs Medium Education Low Care High
SWEDEN Unified auspices education 0-7 yrs Low Medium
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Research Questions

1. How does the national context influence ECE
   governance?
2. Which actors and ideas (politics) benefit under
   different institutional arrangements?
3. What are the consequences for ECE policy outcomes
   (quality, access, coherence)?

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Conceptual Framework Governance of Early Care
Education
ECE Politics
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ECE Governance
National Context
ECE Policy Outcomes
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3
Note Numbers refer to research questions
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Research Design

• Data collection Fieldwork
• - Archival and document research
• - Semi-structured interviews
• Comparative, qualitative case study analysis
• ? Today Focus on decentralization findings

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(De)centralization of ECE in France and Sweden
Origins and Process
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Conceptual Framework Decentralization of ECE
ECE Politics
Decentralization
National Context
ECE Policy Outcomes
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France Limited and Incremental Institutional
Change in Ed. System

• Strong Republican values include centralization
• Since 19th century, preschool part of education
  system
• Early 1980s, Socialists initiated ed.
  decentralization
• 1989 legal right to preschool universal
  coverage 3-5
• Since 1990, few administrative reforms to
  preschools

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France Universal Coverage of 3-5s in Preschools
by 1990
Source OECD
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France Decentralization and Diversification for
Infants-toddlers

• Child care linked to health and social policy
  domains
• 1981 - Expansion of crèches national priority
• 1986 Decentralized child care administration
• No clear legal responsibility for child care
• 1988 childhood contracts provide incentives
  to local authorities to expand and improve
  provision

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France Paradox of Free Choice

• Since 1990s rhetoric of free choice
• Focus on supporting family day care and nannies
• More generous long paid parental leave policies
• Concern with unemployment underlies policy
• Recent reforms seek to expand private provision

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France Most Children under 3 cared for by
Parents or a Family Day Care Provider
Drees 2002
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France Geographic Disparities in Crèches
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Sweden Educare Approach

• Early childhood key part of welfare state
• 1970s and 80s Expansion of local child care,
  centralized funding, and regulations
• 1991-1994 - Non-socialist government
• Rising unemployment large budget deficits
• Supported private for-profit providers
• Created a care allowance instead of formal
  services

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Sweden Shift to Goal-Governing

• 1991 Local Government Act shift from central
  rules to goal governing of ECE
• Earmarked funds ? block grants to municipalities
• 1995 legal requirement for municipalities to
  provide child care to 1-6 year olds with working
  parents
• Local governments facing budget crunch responded
  with higher fees and lower quality standards

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Sweden Recentralization?

• 1995 - Return of Social Democrats to government
• Improved economy, less unemployment
• 1996-2003 Lifelong learning reforms
• Shift all ECE to Ministry of Education
• Preschool curriculum pedagogical steering
• Universal preschool for 4 and 5 year olds
• Maximum fee to rectify disparities in local fees
• Targeted funding to steer decentralized system

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Sweden Increasing Proportion of Children
Enrolled in Preschool since mid-1970s
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Comparative AnalysisConsequences for policy and
politics
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Consequences of Decentralization for Access

• Geographical disparities - less in Sweden than in
  France
• Greater parent choice, but may not benefit
  children
• Family day care
• increase in France
• decrease in Sweden

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Sweden More Families Choosing Preschool Over
Family Day Care, 19752003
Source Skolverket
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France Rising Numbers of Authorized and Employed
Family Day Care Providers
Source DREES, 2003
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Consequences of Decentralization for Quality

• Deregulation larger group sizes and child-staff
  ratios in Sweden
• Targeted financial incentives support can quality
  improvement

Deregulation
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Consequences of Decentralization for Coherence

• Some improved local coordination across ECE
  services
• More challenging in France because of different
  levels of responsibility 2 strong sectors
• Lack of coherence between individual and group
  child care raises concerns about child well-being

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Implications

• Decentralization raises serious equity concerns
• Local politics and resources determine services
  available to families
• Shifts political focus to new actors and
  institutions
• Freedom and democracy the need for local
  capacity
• National steering targeted funding reduce
  inequities
• Institutional history, economic context, and
  ideology
• play roles ? France and Sweden on different paths