Introduction

Throughout the world the number of working mothers with young children has continued to grow. This has important consequences for social policy decisions, particularly in the fields of parental leave, childcare and pre-school services provision. Some countries are far more successful at combining high quality early childhood services with high percentages of mothers in employment, whereas others continue to struggle.

Scope of the Volume

This edited volume examines the ways in which different countries across the world are tackling early childhood services and how these services affect young children’s experiences and development, for better and worse. Some of the recurring questions of childcare provision are tackled, including:

• Is pre-school childcare detrimental to children?
• Does the quality of childcare matter?
• Why are some countries succeeding in providing quality childcare services, and others are not?
• How can we best organise parental leave, employment regulations and childcare provision?