Early Years Policy

In this paper, we analyze the role that early years policy might play in narrowing educational attainment gaps. We begin by examining gaps in school readiness between low-, middle-, and high-income children, drawing on data from new large and nationally representative birth cohort studies in the US and UK. We find that sizable income-related gaps in school readiness are present in both countries before children enter school and then decompose these gaps to identify the factors that account for the poorer scores of low-income children. We then consider what role early years policy could play in tackling these gaps, drawing on the best available evidence to identify promising programs. Keywords early years; inequality; school readiness One of the key challenges in addressing inequality of educational attainment, and promoting social mobility, is that substantial gaps in school readiness are already present at school entry (see e.g. Phillips, Crouse, and Ralph, 1998; Feinstein, 2003). The presence of these gaps even before children start school has prompted a great deal of interest in the role tha