Abstract
In recent decades, many OECD countries have adopted the notion of ‘social investment’ to reframe traditional approaches to social welfare. Social investment strategies and policies focus on employment rather than welfare and promote public expenditure on skills and education throughout the life course, starting with early childhood education and care (ECEC). Such strategies and policies are future-oriented and premised on the assumption that the right types of public expenditure will generate social and economic returns. The child is a central figure within this frame, both as an emblem of the future and as a potential barrier to mothers’ employment in the here and now. But although there is an implicit assumption in much political discourse that public expenditure is equivalent to ‘social investment’ this is not necessarily the case. At more or less the same time that social investment has become a new paradigm for social expenditure, governments (especially, though not exclusively, in liberal English-speaking countries) began to turn to the market, enlisting private, for-profit firms to deliver services such as ECEC that were previously offered either by non-profit providers or the public sector. Rather than fund supply, these governments turned to demand-side strategies, providing parents with vouchers or other forms of cash or taxation assistance to enable them to purchase services in a quasi-market. As a consequence, private investment has become significant driver of policy; indeed, we argue, private investment has the potential to overshadow social investment. Using examples from Australia and England, we question the compatibility of social investment and private investment in ECEC.
Résumé
Ces dernières décennies, de nombreux pays membres de l’OCDE ont adopté le concept de «l’investissement social» pour recadrer les approches traditionnelles à l’aide sociale. Les stratégies et politiques de l’investissement social visent l’emploi plutôt que l’aide sociale, et mettent en avant le financement public de l’éducation ainsi que la formation tout au long de la vie, à commencer par l’éducation de la petite l’enfance. De telles stratégies et politiques sont orientées vers l’avenir et sont fondées sur l’hypothèse que tout financement public correctement conçu produira des retours économiques et sociaux. Bien qu’il y ait un présupposé implicite dans le discours politique, selon lequel le financement public équivaut à «l’investissement social», ceci n’est pas nécessairement le cas. À peu près au même moment où l’investissement social est devenu un nouveau paradigme pour le financement social, les gouvernements (surtout, mais pas seulement, dans les pays anglophones libéraux) ont commencé à se tourner vers le marché, se servant de stratégies basées sur la demande comme les bons et l’aide fiscale pour inciter les entreprises privées à but lucratif à fournir des services comme ceux d’éducation et de garde de la petite enfance. Prenant l’Australie et l’Angleterre comme exemples, nous interrogeons la compatibilité de l’investissement social et de l’investissement privé dans le secteur de l’éducation et la garde de la petite enfance. Nous étudions comment ces deux pays ont adopté des discours de l’investissement social dans leurs stratégies pour l’éducation et la garde de la petite enfance, alors qu’en même temps ils se sont engagés dans des politiques qui reposent sur l’offre privée de services et subventionnent le profit privé. Notre argument clé est que l’investissement public en éducation et garde de la petite enfance de qualité pour tous les enfants a été compromis par les impératifs de fournir des occasions d’investissement au secteur privé.
Resumen
En las últimas décadas, muchos países de la OCDE han adoptado el concepto de ‘inversión social’ para replantear los enfoques tradicionales de bienestar social. Estrategias y políticas de inversión social se centran en el empleo en lugar de promover el bienestar y el gasto público en las habilidades y la educación durante toda la vida, empezando por la Educación Inicial y Cuidado (EIYC). Estas estrategias y políticas orientadas hacia el futuro y tienen como premisa que el tipo correcto de gasto público va a generar beneficios sociales y económicos. Aunque hay una suposición implícita en gran parte del discurso político, que el gasto público es equivalente a la ‘inversión social’, esto no es necesariamente el caso. Más o menos al mismo tiempo en que la inversión social se ha convertido en un nuevo paradigma para el gasto social, los gobiernos (en especial, aunque no exclusivamente, en los países de habla Inglesa liberales) comenzaron a recurrir al mercado, utilizando estrategias de financiamiento de la demanda, tales como vales y asistencia fiscal para dar de alta las empresas privadas con fines de lucro para ofrecer servicios como la EIYC. Usando Australia e Inglaterra como nuestros ejemplos, ponemos en duda la compatibilidad de la inversión social y la inversión privada en la educación de la primera infancia. Examinamos cómo estos países han adoptado discursos de inversión social en sus estrategias de EIYC mientras que, al mismo tiempo, se comprometen con políticas orientadas al mercado que se basan en la oferta del sector privado y subsidios de ganancias privadas. Nuestro principal argumento es que la inversión pública en la EIYC de calidad para todos los niños se ha visto comprometida por los imperativos de proporcionar oportunidades para la inversión privada.
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Notes
Being approved is not the same as meeting regulatory requirements. In order to be approved for Child Care Benefit purposes, a service has to meet regulatory requirements and offer services for at least 8 h per day, 48 weeks per year. Most long day care centres and family day schemes are approved, while preschools offering half-day or short day programmes are not.
Long day care is the Australian term for child care centres that are open for at least 8 h per day, 48 weeks per year, thus catering to the needs of employed parents.
Jobs, Education and Training (JET) Child Care Fee assistance is available to some families where parents are studying or preparing to enter the labour force. Under this scheme, parents’ co-contribution is capped at $1 per hour.
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Adamson, E., Brennan, D. Social Investment or Private Profit? Diverging Notions of ‘Investment’ in Early Childhood Education and Care. IJEC 46, 47–61 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-013-0098-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-013-0098-x