Nordic models of equity in Early Childhood Development (ECD)

Nordic social democratic welfare systems are widely recognised as delivering high levels of equity and
strong performance in international league tables for child development. Pregnancy and early childhood
are a critical period for child development and a priority for tackling health inequalities across the life-course. Yet relatively little attention has been paid to analysing the comprehensive and integrated
systems of maternal health and Early Childhood Development (ECD) in the Nordic countries and to
identifying transferable learning about the systems, policies and practices that help to achieve healthy
and equitable development.
The aim will be to capture transferable learning for policy and practice from Nordic systems for ECD
(conception-three) and the factors associated with relatively high performance and low inequity in ECD
outcomes. The research will take a mixed methods approach, comprising the following work packages:
1. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: Development of an ecological conceptual framework for comparative
analysis of the influences on key outcomes during the period of early childhood development (conception
to age 3).
2. POLICY & SYSTEMS ANALYSIS: Operationalisation of the conceptual framework across four Nordic
countries (Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden) by mapping and delineating the features of ECD systems
(governance; organisation; resources; policies; programmes; practices); as well as the wider socio-demographic, economic and cultural contexts. Analysis will identify the shared features of a potential
Nordic model(s) of ECD - as well as features of distinction between the countries, considering the
enabling conditions and political processes in their genesis
3. CASE STUDIES: case studies of systems in two local areas will be carried out to provide in-depth
understanding of how identified features of the systems operate on the ground and to identify
transferable practices. The case studies will include original analysis of local birth cohort study data,
enabling empirical investigation of factors associated with positive and equitable child development