ECEC: childcare markets in the Netherlands and England

This chapter explores current developments in childcare in two countries that have quasi-markets in childcare. Early years care and education are mainly private in England and the Netherlands. In both countries, the childcare market has expanded and receives substantial public funding since 2000, enough to put them in the middle of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) range. Interestingly, they have different systems of regulation. Both markets are fragmented and fragile and both systems are showing signs of failure. Balancing private (employers’ and families’) costs against public expenditure in this new market while guaranteeing value for money as well as access to a quality service for those who need it most has been a major policy challenge. This chapter argues that childcare needs state intervention in respect of financing and regulation and cannot be left to the private market alone. The arguments relate to defining childcare as a ‘public good’, the regulation of a state-subsidized private market, the quality of care and of care work; and to the argument of parents’ ‘free choice’, a main policy argument for privatizing a public good. It will be shown that parental choice is limited due to difficulties in assessing quality, poor information, lack of transparency, switching costs related to policy decisions on tax allowances and tax credits, and because children need continuity of care. Market provision tends to be fragile and therefore unsustainable and sometimes inaccessible, especially in poor areas. Finally, the childcare market does not guarantee stable and continuous high-quality care and has exclusionary effects, which are linked to policy decisions on eligibility. In this context, issues of affordability, entitlement and service quality come to the fore.