Peer-reviewed article
Global tracking of access and quality in early childhood care and education
Abbie Raikes, Nirmala Rao, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Caroline Cohrssen, Jere Richard Behrman et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This paper examines how countries globally measure access to and quality of early childhood care and education (ECCE). The authors argue that current data collection methods are insufficient and inconsistent across countries, making it difficult to understand who has access to quality ECCE and how it affects children's learning and wellbeing. They propose that measurement should focus on children's actual participation in quality programs rather than just enrollment numbers. The paper identifies gaps in how ECCE is defined and measured internationally and recommends that governments, organizations, and researchers work together to establish better monitoring systems.
Key points
- Many countries do not routinely collect data on access to quality ECCE, limiting understanding of equitable access
- Current estimates often rely on enrollment or attendance alone, which do not capture participation in quality programs or dosage effects
- Definitions, availability, and accuracy of ECCE data vary significantly across countries
- Participation in quality ECCE is critical for ensuring positive benefits to children's learning and wellbeing
- Multiple stakeholders—governments, international organizations, and researchers—need to collaborate on setting standards, developing measurement tools, and investing in national monitoring systems
Limitations
This paper is a status report on measurement approaches rather than an empirical study, so it does not present original data on children's ECCE access or outcomes. It identifies the problem of measurement gaps but does not test specific solutions or interventions to improve data collection.
Abstract
Investments in early childhood care and education (ECCE) have contributed to a growing demand for internationally comparable data. Yet data on access to quality ECCE are not routinely collected in many countries, leading to limited information on equitable access to ECCE, quality of provision, and the impact on learning and wellbeing outcomes. This paper outlines the current status of global measurement of access to quality ECCE and identifies issues with definitions, availability, and accuracy of ECCE data across countries and outlines paths forward. We argue that estimates of access to ECCE should be based on children's participation in quality ECCE across multiple program types, rather than enrollment or attendance alone, given the critical importance of dosage and participation for ensuring positive benefits from ECCE. Governments, international organizations, and researchers all have roles to play in setting standards to define and monitor ECCE, generating workable tools for measuring nationally, and globally investing in national monitoring systems and routine household surveys to obtain accurate estimates of access to quality ECCE.