abstract: 'Access to early childhood education services has proved to be an

  effective way of combating educational inequality. However, more

  advantaged families are more likely to use these services, while

  children from more vulnerable backgrounds are marginalised. Research has

  explained this phenomenon, known as the Mathew Effect, mainly by

  studying the constraints arising from the availability of services, the

  economic capacity of families to use them, and cultural patterns of

  motherhood. This paper aims to identify, from a public policy

  perspective, other factors that explain the Mathew Effect, beyond the

  economic barriers that limit access to formal care services for young

  children.

  Based on interviews with 34 mothers of children under three years old,

  with differing levels of involvement in the employment market and

  different models of childcare (municipal and private nursery schools),

  we analyse the characteristics of formal early childhood care services

  and the objective factors of those mothers'' everyday lives, to

  understand the decision-making processes involved in choosing childcare

  for the under-threes. The results indicate that sliding scale pricing

  has allowed mothers on low incomes to access state nursery schools,

  while the quality of the public services offered has been a factor in

  attracting middle and upper class parents. However, there has been no

  adaptation of public early childhood care services to the needs of

  working-class mothers who, while not being in a situation of social

  vulnerability, do not have the option of using private nurseries.'
affiliation: 'Saula, ES (Corresponding Author), Univ Autonoma Barcelona, Dept Sociol,
  Barcelona, Spain.

  Sauri Saula, Enric; Gonzalez Motos, Sheila, Univ Autonoma Barcelona, Dept Sociol,
  Barcelona, Spain.'
article-number: e3065
author: Sauri Saula, Enric and Gonzalez Motos, Sheila
author-email: 'enric.sauri@uab.cat

  sheila.gonzalez@uab.cat'
author_list:
- family: Sauri Saula
  given: Enric
- family: Gonzalez Motos
  given: Sheila
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.5565/rev/papers.3065
eissn: 2013-9004
files: []
issn: 0210-2862
journal: PAPERS-REVISTA DE SOCIOLOGIA
keywords: 'early childhood; preschool education; educational inequality;

  motherhood; educational policy'
keywords-plus: EMPLOYMENT; COSTS
language: Catalan
number: '3'
number-of-cited-references: '52'
papis_id: 181d20b0c25a682e8891504fac85a041
ref: Saurisaula2022justifyingchoice
times-cited: '0'
title: 'Justifying the choice of childcare for 0 to 3-year-olds : Are public services
  an option for me?'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000976761400004
usage-count-last-180-days: '2'
usage-count-since-2013: '2'
volume: '107'
web-of-science-categories: Sociology
year: '2022'