Choice and equal access in early childhood education and care: The case of Germany

Hogrebe, N

Abstract

This paper wants to contribute to the political and scientific debate that focuses on the question,how different early childhood education and care (ECEC) system features relate to aspectsof parental choice, quality, and equity. In order to do so, it discusses different aspects ofECEC configurations in Europe in general and their implementation in Germany against thebackground of educational equality. Despite the issue of biased access, within its generalframework legislation German ECEC policies seem to allow parents to choose and to ensureequal access to high quality services at the same time. However, a  perspective on systemcharacteristics at country level conceals processes at local level that lead to inequalities, suchas segregation. Based on data of one example municipality in North Rhine-Westphalia, thepaper illustrates such segregation patterns at the local level. As these relate to the type of providerof ECEC services, this is discussed against the background of market mechanisms.