Dashboard for Strong Early Childhood Education and Care Systems

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has the potential to address a range of goals, yet delivering on the potential of ECEC requires a workforce that is equipped and motivated to meet the unique demands of facilitating young children’s development, learning and well-being. The OECD Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS Starting Strong) focuses on the ECEC workforce. In 2024, ECEC staff and leaders in 17 countries and subnational entities shared insights into a wide range of topics, including their working conditions, professional development opportunities and their work with young children. This report presents the results of the survey, looking at the activities and supports for children and their families through ECEC, as well as the aspects of working in ECEC that staff appreciate, their opportunities for career progression and sources of work-related stress. The governance, oversight and structure of job opportunities in the sector are also considered. Taking a forward-looking approach, the TALIS Starting Strong 2024 data are used to inform strategies for strengthening ECEC systems in the face of shifting demands on the sector and short-term crises, better equipping these systems to realise the benefits of ECEC for the future.

The early years set the foundations for children’s development and learning trajectories in life. Early inequalities can put children on divergent paths, but Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) policies can level opportunities from the start, with lasting economic and social benefits. Addressing gaps in participation in ECEC and strengthening its quality and inclusivity represent essential steps to support young children and families and reduce inequalities. Leveraging insights from recent research, this report discusses the drivers of inequalities in early childhood and the place of ECEC within the landscape of mitigating policies. It develops a policy roadmap for ECEC to better support equity and inclusion.

Digitalisation is transforming education as well as social and economic life, with implications for childhood. Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), with its immense potential to shape children’s early development, learning and well-being, can play a major role in addressing the opportunities and risks that digitalisation brings to young children.

This compendium of case studies is part of the Starting Strong VII policy review and a supplement to its main report, Empowering Young Children in the Digital Age. The policy review is the culmination of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in a Digital World project, which was carried out between 2021 and 2023 to investigate ways in which ECEC systems can respond to digitalisation, harnessing opportunities to promote high-quality and equitable ECEC while minimising the associated risks.

This review of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in twenty OECD countries describes the social, economic, conceptual and research factors that influence early childhood policy.

Taking a broader and more holistic approach to early childhood than previous studies, this book provides a comparative analysis of major policy developments and issues in 12 OECD countries, highlights innovative approaches, and proposes policy options that can be adapted to varied country contexts.