通过投资于幼儿教育和护理来减少不平等

Reducing Inequalities byInvestinginEarly Childhood Education andCare Starting Strong Reducing Inequalitiesby Investing in EarlyChildhood Educationand Care This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed andarguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD. This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty overany territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use ofsuch data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements inthe West Bank under the terms of international law. ISBN 978-92-64-45258-9 (print)ISBN 978-92-64-75834-6 (PDF)ISBN 978-92-64-46585-5 (HTML) Starting StrongISSN 2521-6023 (print)ISSN 2521-6031 (online) Revised version, February 2025Details of revisions available at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/support/corrigenda.html Photo credits:Cover © Robert Kneschke/Shutterstock.com. Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/support/corrigenda.html.© OECD 2025 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. By using this work, you accept to be bound by the terms of this licence(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Attribution– you must cite the work.Translations– you must cite the original work, identify changes to the original and add the following text:In the event of any discrepancy between the original work and thetranslation, only the text of original work should be considered valid.Adaptations– you must cite the original work and add the following text:This is an adaptation of an original work by the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed inthis adaptation should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its Member countries.Third-party material– the licence does not apply to third-party material in the work. If using such material, you are responsible for obtaining permission from the third party and forany claims of infringement.You must not use the OECD logo, visual identity or cover image without express permission or suggest the OECD endorses your use of the work.Any dispute arising under this licence shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Arbitration Rules 2012. The seat of arbitration shallbe Paris (France). The number of arbitrators shall be one. Preface Far too often, children miss out on quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). Cultural barriersand a lack of information limit enrolment, while some families simply cannot afford it. The data show thatvulnerable children are most affected, with substantial socio-economic gaps in ECEC participation in mostcountries, especially for children aged 0 to 2. In eight out of 28 OECD countries, these gaps have widenedfor children aged 3 to 5. What is more, disadvantaged children often receive lower-quality ECEC services.Evidence suggests that overall quality is only improving in a handful of cases. Many OECD countries can,and should, do better. The importance of ECEC cannot be overstated. It is a cost-effective way to close achievement gaps beforethey widen and become entrenched. Unlike interventions aimed at addressing inequalities later in life, high-quality ECEC promotes the development of foundational skills like language, literacy and numeracy,essential for later success. Early years policies, if co-ordinated and evidence-based, can reduce the needfor expensive remedial education and social services in the future. In the past 20 years, countries have increased funding and improved ECEC policies. Enrolment rates areup, and many countrieshave adopted research-informed curriculums that build on play to foster childdevelopment and well-being. Children who attend high-quality ECEC are more likely to succeed in school,graduate and secure good jobs. They are less likely to engage in criminalactivities or rely on social welfare.The return on investment is substantial. For every dollar, yen or euro spent on high-quality ECEC, societysaves much more in future costs–and supports happy childhoods. Yet, despite these benefits, many children are left behind. OECD data show large socio-economic gaps inmaths scores for 15-year-olds. Only two OECD countries narrowed these gaps between 2015 and 2022.This is, at least partly, a hangover from ECEC as, in some countries, the socio-economic gaps in earlyyears participation are particularly stark. Children from low-income families are less likely to attend ECECprogrammes. Even when they do, the quality of services they rec