Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services have become a strategic area of public policy, as three priorities converge around them: (i) supporting children’s development and reducing socioeconomic inequalities; (ii) reconciling work and care responsibilities and promoting female employment; and (iii) responding to declining birth rates and an ageing population through strengthened early years support.
Fondazione Agnelli’s multi-year research project Zero Sei stems from the urgency of these three challenges. The project examines the role of education and care services for children from birth through to the start of primary school, with a particular focus on those under the age of three, within the context of European public policies.
The first phase of the project was completed in April 2026 with the comparative study ECEC at a Crossroads? A Comparative Analysis of Early Childhood Education and Care in Five Countries, which analyses the strengths and weaknesses of five major European countries: France, Germany, England, Italy, and Spain.
Coordinated by Francesca Bastagli (Head of Research, Fondazione Agnelli) and Emmanuele Pavolini (Professor of Economic Sociology, University of Milan), the study involved a group of national and international scholars. It resulted in five national reports, a comparative report, and a policy brief on the implications for Italy, alongside a summary publication for a broader audience titled Starting Strong: Early Childhood Education and Care in Italy and Europe. The documents are available for download at this page.
Drawing on a comparison of developments and policy choices made over the past two decades across Europe, the research aims to contribute to the policy debate and to identify options for strengthening the accessibility, quality and equity of ECEC services in Italy.
Focusing on three key dimensions of ECEC services—access, quality, and costs and financing—the five national studies provide an analysis of the main trends and policy initiatives in the countries examined. It highlights how the expansion of ECEC services over the past two decades has taken place while leaving some important challenges unresolved, and in some cases exacerbating them.
Two issues, in particular, stand out: socioeconomic inequalities in access to services and the quality of provision, both of which are crucial for the development of inclusive, sustainable, and effective policy systems. In addressing these challenges, European countries face a number of “dilemmas,” or policy trade-offs, linked to the institutional configuration of ECEC systems and to ongoing demographic and labour market changes. The comparative analysis identifies ten such tensions, offering a stylised framework for understanding the key issues and the policy options available to advance the reform agenda for early childhood education and care services.
The papers:
- ECEC at a crossroads? A comparative analysis of Early Childhood Education and Care in five countries, by Francesca Bastagli (Fondazione Agnelli) and Emmanuele Pavolini (University of Milan)
- ECEC in England: Increasing affordability – but at what cost?, by Kitty Stewart (London School of Economics and Political Science)
- The French ECEC paradox: universal ambitions, unequal realities, by Laudine Carbuccia (University of Madison Wisconsin and Sciences Po) and Lidia Panico (Sciences Po and INED, Paris)
- ECEC in Germany: the well-designed expansion running out of steam?, by Ludovica Gambaro (Independent Researcher)
- ECEC in Italy: towards an integrated 0-6 years system?, by Stefano Neri (University of Milan) and Stefania Sabatinelli (Polytechnic of Milan)
- ECEC in Spain: so close to, so far away from, the Nordic model, by David Palomera (Southern Denmark University) and Llorenç Soler-Buades (European University Institute)