The business of childcare in Europe

This article is based on work undertaken for the European Commission (EC) as part of a wider project on what is termed 'social services of general interest'. The EC is currently engaged in considering what kind of legislative and quality assurance mechanisms might be promoted for those soc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European early childhood education research journal Vol. 22; no. 4; pp. 432 - 456
Main Author: Penn, Helen
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Abingdon Routledge 08.08.2014
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects:
Accountability
Business
Child Care
childcare
early childhood care and education (ECEC) private markets
Early Childhood Education
England
Europe
Federal Legislation
Financial Support
Foreign Countries
Governance
quality
Quality Assurance
Quality Control
regulation
Social services
United Kingdom
United Kingdom (England)
United Kingdom
Europe
ISSN:1350-293X, 1752-1807
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article is based on work undertaken for the European Commission (EC) as part of a wider project on what is termed 'social services of general interest'. The EC is currently engaged in considering what kind of legislative and quality assurance mechanisms might be promoted for those social services, which have been opened up to competition. The EC work reported here mapped the extent to which early education and childcare (ECEC) is provided by private organizations in the member states of the European Union, and what regulatory frameworks exist for such services. This article foregrounds the situation in the UK, and England in particular. England is exceptional in Europe in the degree to which it has conceptualized and promoted childcare as a business or for-profit enterprise; and it has developed a regulatory framework with a narrow scope which excludes or limits such issues as financial regulation, access, pay and conditions of work for staff, and accountability measures.
Bibliography:SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 14
ISSN:1350-293X
1752-1807
DOI:10.1080/1350293X.2013.783300