More Preschool, Less Inequality? Universal Early Education and Socioeconomic Disparities

Can early universal preschool reduce socioeconomic inequalities in child development? The role of duration and intensity of preschool attendance in the French birth cohort Elfe

Lawrence M. Berger, Lidia Panico and Anne Solaz,  Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Vol. 76, 3rd Quarter 2026, p. 272-286. [open access here] 

The article investigates whether expanding access to universal preschool education can mitigate early socioeconomic gradients in children’s skills at school entry. Using large-scale longitudinal data that follow children from age 3 through the beginning of primary school, the authors document pronounced gaps in cognitive and socio-emotional development by parental education and social background at the start of preschool.

They then estimate the impact of variation in preschool exposure – in particular, starting age and duration of enrollment in école maternelle – on subsequent achievement in language and early numeracy, controlling for family characteristics and home learning resources. The results show that additional time spent in preschool is associated with significant gains in early skills on average, with larger effects for children from lower-educated or less advantaged families, which points to an equalising role of universal provision.

However, the study also highlights that preschool does not fully offset the social gradient in development: sizeable disparities by parental education and socioeconomic status remain at the transition to elementary school. The authors conclude that universal preschool can act as a partial “leveller” of early inequalities, but that closing gaps in children’s outcomes requires sustained investments in quality, targeted support for disadvantaged children, and broader social policies beyond the preschool sector.