Briefing | The world’s nurseries

Getting ‘em young

Early education matters, but it is not everything

THE mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, has promised that there will be free pre-schooling available to all the city’s infants this year. It is one example of a wider American political enthusiasm for dealing with gaps in educational attainment by focusing on the youngest. International comparisons show that such measures have a long way to go—and that they are far from a cure all.

Figures from the OECD show America faring quite well on provision for 0-3-year-olds (see chart); but when it comes to providing pre-school for 3-to-5-year-olds it falls to the back of the class—behind Chile and just ahead of Lithuania and Greece.

Attitudes to the right way to spend early childhood years still vary around the world. Scandinavians dislike formal early schooling but relish subsidised day care earlier on. German parents put relatively few of their toddlers into formal crèches, but are happy for them to head off to kindergarten when they are three. Ambitious Asians, notably in South Korea, are keen on solid pre-schooling as a chance to improve educational outcomes and make them more consistent. The Swiss prefer to keep their kids at home a bit longer, but still do well by them overall.

Andreas Schleicher, head of the OECD’s education team, says early-years investment does not “automatically produce gains in learning, unless systems transfer this to primary and secondary level”. He has just published research showing that in a worrying number of rich-world countries more than 15% of young people are “unqualified”. Those with a problem include France, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark—all high scorers for early-years provision. A good start is not enough on its own. The system’s stamina and consistency matters just as much—and possibly more.

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline "Getting ‘em young"

America’s new aristocracy

From the January 24th 2015 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

How to predict Donald Trump’s foreign policy

He may be inconsistent, but his advisers offer some clues

The war in Gaza may topple Hamas without making Israel safer

It will end up even more deeply mired in the conflict that is the main threat to its security


America’s economy has escaped a hard landing

But there are still pitfalls ahead