?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Pre-School+Education+and+Care%3A+A+%E2%80%98Win-Win%E2%80%99+Policy%3F&rft.creator=Green%2C+Andy&rft.creator=Mostafa%2C+Tarek&rft.description=Pre-school+education+and+care+(PSEC)+is+often+claimed+as+a+%E2%80%98win-win%E2%80%99+policy+which+simultaneously+enhances+both+economic+competitiveness+and+ocial+cohesion.+High+levels+of+PSEC+are+said+to+raise+living+standards+by+increasing+female+employment+rates+and+improving+young+people%E2%80%99s+skills+and+to+mitigate+inequalities+by+reducing+social+gaps+in+learning+outcomes.+Much+of+the+evidence+for+this+rests+on+analysis+of+data+for+a+small+umber+of+countries.+In+this+paper+we+test+the+claims+using+cross-national+time+series+data+for+a+large+number+of+OECD+countries.+The+analysis+of+determinants+of+employment+rates%2C+using+a+variety+of+controls%2C+does+confirm+the+association+between+PSEC+participation+levels+and+female+mployment+rates.+However%2C+the+cross-national+analysis+does+not+support+the+argument+that+raising+aggregate+levels+of+PSEC+participation+ecessarily+reduces+social+gaps+in+attainment+at+15+years+of+age.+Participation+in+PSEC+increases+educational+performance+at+15+by+similar+amounts+for+children+of+all+social+groups+in+most+countries.+Social+gaps+in+performance+at+15+may+only+be+mitigated+by+high+levels+of+PSEC+provision+where+children+from+less+advantaged+families+get+more+%E2%80%93+or+better+quality+%E2%80%93+provision.+The+recently+announced+Department+for+Education+plan+to+extend+free+provision+of+PSEC+for+fifteen+hours+a+week+to+two-year-old+children+from+disadvantaged+families+(i.e.+in+care+or+qualifying+for+free+school+eals)+therefore+points+in+the+right+direction.+However%2C+it+remains+to+be+seen+whether+this+will+bias+participation+towards+this+group+sufficiently+to+reduce+inequalities+in+learning+outcomes.&rft.subject=Preschool+education+and+care%2C+Female+employment%2C+Educational+performance&rft.publisher=Institute+of+Education%2C+University+of+London&rft.date=2011-10-04&rft.type=Report&rft.language=eng&rft.source=++++Institute+of+Education%2C+University+of+London+++++&rft.format=text&rft.identifier=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscovery.ucl.ac.uk%2Fid%2Feprint%2F10021990%2F1%2FGreen_Mostafa_preschool.pdf&rft.identifier=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscovery.ucl.ac.uk%2Fid%2Feprint%2F10021990%2F&rft.rights=open