ORIGINAL RESEARCH

published: 11 February 2022

doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.794967

A Quantitative Study of Early

Childhood Care and Education
Services Under the Age of Three:
Evidence From Sichuan Province,
China
Feng Peng 1 , Xiaoyi Zhan 1 , Bin Yang 1 and Yihao Tian 1,2*
1
Department of Public Service Management and Public Policy, School of Public Administration, Sichuan University,
Chengdu, China, 2 Social Development and Social Risk Control Research Center of Sichuan Philosophy and Social Sciences
Key Research Base, Chengdu, China

In China, early childhood care and education services for children under the age of three
are neglected to some extent. Based on survey data from the Health Commission in
Sichuan Province of China, this study analyzes the situation of early childhood care
and education services in Sichuan through a qualitative method, using an analytical
Edited by:
framework of matching the demand and supply. The findings reveal a mismatch between
Ashwani Kumar Mishra, demand and supply of early childhood care and education services. This gap is likely
All India Institute of Medical to have a negative impact on children’s self-development, family stability, and even the
Sciences, India
construction of national early childhood care and education service system. Drawing on
Reviewed by:
Haimei Li, the findings, suggestions for improving the mismatch between demand and supply are
Chengdu University of provided at the state, community and institution levels.
Technology, China
Xueyong Yan, Keywords: early childhood care and education services, qualitative method, demand, supply, Sichuan China
Southwest Jiaotong University, China
*Correspondence:
Yihao Tian INTRODUCTION
yihaotian@scu.edu.cn
It has been widely accepted that early childhood care and education (ECCE) is significant
Specialty section: for children’s self-development, family stability, and even national construction. Almost all
This article was submitted to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries have explored their
Public Mental Health, own models, forming the government-dominant models represented by Denmark and Sweden, the
a section of the journal market-oriented models represented by the United States and Britain, and the multi-governance
Frontiers in Public Health models represented by Japan and New Zealand (1–4). However, ECCE in China has been neglected
Received: 14 October 2021 to some extent; there is no mature model for ECCE. Traditional family rearing is still the
Accepted: 03 January 2022 principal approach China, especially by women, which has had a significant negative impact on
Published: 11 February 2022 the development of women. According to the survey report on the living conditions of working
Citation: mothers in 2017, conducted by the Zhi Lian Zhao Pin, one of the largest employment platforms
Peng F, Zhan X, Yang B and Tian Y in China, 60% of women in the workplace believe that childbirth has an impact on their career
(2022) A Quantitative Study of Early
development, 40% of women do not want to have children, and 36% of women have lost their
Childhood Care and Education
Services Under the Age of Three:
jobs after giving birth, while this proportion was only 26% in 2016. With the development of
Evidence From Sichuan Province, China’s economy and the implementation of the universal three-child policy, as well as the change
China. in women’s social status, the traditional model in China is no longer appropriate, and a more
Front. Public Health 10:794967. comprehensive method is needed to promote the improved growth of children, achieve improved
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.794967 parental development, and drive the improved construction of the country.

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Peng et al. Early Childhood Care and Education

Previous studies have reached a consensus that ECCE plays to be the main caregivers of children. Concurrent with family
an important role in child and mother development, family miniaturization and population aging, the change in the concept
stability, and even national development. Effective ECCE services of childcare further refines and diversifies the requirements of
can ensure that young children receive good care, improve childcare. The current method of family care cannot meet such
their intellectual development (5) and social cognition (6), and requirements. Women’s participation in the labor market also
promote the overall development of children in the early stages of intensifies the problem of family care manpower. ECCE has
their lives so as to prepare them for school and lay an important become an important factor affecting children’s and women’s self-
foundation for their lives and learning (7). The research shows development, family stability, and even national construction
that the quality and enrollment rate of childcare are in direct (34). The construction of ECCE is helpful to solve the growing
proportion to the employment rate of women (8, 9); Thus, intergenerational gap caused by the unfair starting point of
the optimization of ECCE can achieve improved work and children, so as to better realize their own development. At the
family balance for women, especially working mothers (10–12). same time, it is helpful to ease the family care crisis to provide
The emphasis on ECCE has the dual function of sustaining human capital support to help China escape the middle-income
parental employment, especially for women, and fostering child trap. In the context of China’s universal two-child policy, it is
development (5, 13). As for the country, the development of necessary to establish an analytical framework for ECCE services
ECCE is an important means or tool to promote a country’s with a widely accepted value criterion to understand the current
human resources development (14), gender equality in the family domestic situation. According to The Convention on the Right of
and workplace (15–17), women’s employment (18, 19), increase the Child and the literature review (35), the following will analyze
the fertility rate (20, 21), and reduce the intergenerational cycle of the present situation of ECCE from the perspective of demand
poverty (22). It has become one of the best investments a country and supply. In order to do this, we must first understand China’s
can make in itself. Many countries and regions are increasingly current policy background.
strengthening the top-level design of a unified and perfected
ECCE system so as to promote the co-development of children, ECCE Policy in China
family, and society (23). In China, the relevant policies on ECCE at the national level
The current research on Chinese ECCE can be divided are constantly improving, especially after the implementation
into three aspects. The first is to emphasize the important of the universal two-child policy; the pace of construction has
responsibility of the government in the upbringing of children accelerated, and policy attitudes have been clarified. The relevant
(24) and role orientation in promoting the construction and policies at the national level are summarized in Table 1.
sustainable development of the infant care service system before Central and local policies are highly unified in China. In
the age of three (25). On this basis, some scholars have studied addition to the relevant policies and regulations issued by the
the development course of China’s ECCE policy since the Reform state, Sichuan Province has also issued some local policies
and opening up of China (26), while others have provided policy and regulations, such as “the standard for basic kindergarten
suggestions for China through an international comparison of operation in Sichuan Province,” “the opinions on accelerating
ECCE policies (27), particularly with welfare countries (28). The the development of nursery services for infants under the
second aspect is to analyze the supply situation of ECCE in some age of 3 years old,” and “the administrative measures for
developed areas, such as Nanjing (29) and Shanghai (30), and supporting kindergarten construction in residential areas in
to identify, classify, and evaluate the current supply mode of Sichuan Province.” There are three main tasks: First, scientific
ECCE for children aged three and younger in China (31). The planning and construction of infant care institutions; second,
third aspect researched the needs of parents (32), especially urban the standardized development of infant care services; third,
parents in developed areas (33). In summary, previous literature strengthening guidance services for infant family rearing. The
have focused on the policy, supply, and demand of ECCE, but scale, class size, staffing, and nature of the institutions are clearly
there is a lack of systematic analysis of China’s current ECCE defined. The introduction of these policies generally provides
situation from the perspective of matching supply and demand. important guidance to promote the normative development of
Moreover, the research stays at the level of what the ECCE should nurseries in Sichuan Province.
be like and lacks effective data support.
In this context based on the survey data from the Health ECCE Framework
Commission of Sichuan Province, and by clarifying China’s ECCE Demand
current ECCE policy background, we comprehensively evaluate ECCE demand refers to parents’ desire to acquire ECCE services
the situation of ECCE in Sichuan province of China from the and the possibility of accessing them, which is important for
perspective of matching supply and demand, analyze the existing parents, especially mothers, so that they can have time to work
problems, explore the reasons for the current situation, and put and receive professional nursery services. Accurately identifying
forward feasible policy suggestions. demand is the basic premise required to meet demand. If
governors cannot accurately grasp the demand for ECCE, they
BACKGROUND will be unable to identify those who have a strong need for
ECCE and provide them with accurate public services; thus, there
Due to economic development and social progress, more would be a large mismatch between demand and supply (36).
women have joined the labor market, which means that in In this process, we also need to pay attention to the various
China’s dual income families, it is common for grandparents factors that affect requirements such as parental employment,

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Peng et al. Early Childhood Care and Education

TABLE 1 | Relevant ECCE policies at the national level in China.

Years Policies and regulations Issuing department Important content

2010 ≪Outline of the National Medium-and The State Council Emphasize the importance of 0–3 years old infant education.
Long-Term Program for Education Reform
and Development(2010-2020)≫
2011 ≪Outline of Children’s Development in The State Council Emphasize the development of public welfare and inclusive guidance institutions for
China(2011–2020)≫ children’s comprehensive development, and provide early care and education
guidance for 0–3 years old children and their families based on kindergartens and
communities. Speed up the training of 0–3-year-old children’s early education
professionals.
2012 ≪The 12th Five Year Plan for the The Education Strengthen the supervision of preschool education institutions and early education
Development of National Education≫ Department guidance institutions. Strengthen the scientific research of preschool education and
promote the combination of preschool education and family education.
2012 ≪Notice on the Pilot Project of ECCE for The Education The pilot project of ECCE for 0–3 years old infants was carried out in 14 areas such
053 years old infants≫ Department as Shanghai and Haidian District of Beijing.
2014 ≪National Development Plan for Children The State Council Carry out ECCE services for infants and young children. Provide ECCE guidance
in Poor Areas (2014–2020)≫ services for children under 3 years old and their families by relying on kindergartens
and supporting education centers.
2019.5 ≪Guidance on promoting the Development The State Council Clearly put forward the basic principles of “family first, child care supplement” and
of Care Services for Infants under 3 Years “policy guidance, inclusive priority”. The main task is to strengthen the support and
Old≫ guidance for family infant care, increase the support for community infant care service,
and standardize the development of various forms of infant care service institutions.
2019.10 ≪Implementation Plan of Special Action to The National Carry out urban enterprise cooperation around “government guidance, multi-party
Support Social Forces to Develop Inclusive Development and participation, social operation, inclusive access”. Focus on supporting the
Care Services (Trial)≫ Reform Commission; construction of two types of nursery service facilities. The first is the demonstrative
The National Health nurseries service institutions that undertake certain guiding functions; The second is
Commission the community care service facilities, which support the construction of a number of
embedded, distributed and professional community care service facilities through
new construction, reconstruction and expansion, and provide diversified inclusive
care services such as full day care, half day care, temporary care, etc.

income, education, and family structure (37), as well as the type inclusive services, or to assist market institutions in providing
and content of requirements, and so forth. Existing research to ECCE services as quasi-public goods. Theoretical researchers
understand the real demand situation can mainly be categorized or practitioners have stressed that the insufficiency of ECCE
into three aspects of demand. The first is the total amount of services has a direct impact on the realization of children’s
ECCE, which represents whether people’s demand for childcare rights (38) and can lead to other negative consequences such
services is strong. In this dimension, we will be able to see as gender discrimination, weakened family functions, declining
the overall demand for ECCE services. The second is the social fertility (20) and labor market shortages (39). In view of
structure, which means that people prefer family ECCE services this, the international community attaches greater importance
(which provide training services for parents or help parents take to ECCE services for children aged three and younger, and
care of their children directly) or institutional ECCE services mainly assesses the status of supply from the following three
(services that can be accepted by sending children to institutions), dimensions. The first is whether there is an overall quantitative
and prefer public or market-oriented institutions. The third is balance between the supply and demand of ECCE services (40,
characteristics, which refer to types of service hours, personnel 41); to some extent, this can be measured by more accurate
quality, environmental facilities, and so forth. It is necessary to statistics such as the rate of non-family childcare or the number
understand these aspects of demand, which are the basis for of institutions (42). The second is whether the structure of
analyzing the matching of supply and demand. ECCE services is reasonable. This refers to the proportion of
ECCE services provided by government (43) or market-oriented
ECCE Supply institutions on the one hand, and the content of ECCE services on
ECCE supply means to protect the rights of the child and to the other, which refers to whether the early care and education
meet the needs of the child and their family to receive special of children are taken into account and considered to be equally
help for care and education, as well as all services provided important. The third dimension is the quality of ECCE services
and measures taken by the department concerned (this mainly (44), which includes safety and security (45), personnel quality
refers to administrative authorities, public or private institutions, (46, 47), service standards (48), and so forth.
social sectors, and so forth).The generally accepted norm is that As the fourth most populated province in China, Sichuan has
governments should provide ECCE services as public goods to the characteristics of a large population in urban areas, the rapid
all children and their families (19), especially high quality and growth in the number of newborns, small family sizes, and an

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Peng et al. Early Childhood Care and Education

aging population. With the increase of migrants in the process most of the parents (about 70%) are between the ages of 25–35.
of urbanization, the possible burden of ECCE in this province is From the perspective of salary, the average monthly income of
incisive and vivid. Thus, we use the ECCE framework mentioned parents is about 5,600 RMB(U), which is almost the same as the
above to analyze the current situation of demand and supply in average monthly income of 5,400 RMB(U) in Sichuan Province.
Sichuan Province. Detailed descriptions of families are provided in Table 3.
In order to understand the current situation of the provision
Methodology of childcare services in the early lives of children in the
There are 31 provinces in China. According to the data of the province, the Health Committee organized this survey. The basic
Seventh National Census, Sichuan Province has a permanent information about ECCE institutions mainly includes the total
resident population of 83.675 million, ranking fifth in China and number of institutions, types of institutions, business locations,
Sichuan’s GDP is 4,859.88 billion yuan, ranking sixth in China investment status, and so forth. In addition, this survey also
in 2020. Meanwhile, multi-ethnic gather, covering large, medium collected supply-side information on the changing situation and
and small cities, which can represent China’s development to a the number of children that can be taken care of.
certain extent. Since 2010, there have been more than 700,000
newborns annually in Sichuan. The number of newborns in 2017 RESULTS
was the highest at 930,000. To understand the ECCE status of
the early lives of children in the province, the Health Committee Based on the data from the Health Committee, this study
in 2020 conducted a large-scale social survey in all cities in the analyzes the current situation in Sichuan from the perspective
province, covering 90% of county-level administrative units. This of ECCE supply and demand. Specifically, according to our
survey is the first provincial survey conducted by the Sichuan analysis framework, we will first study ECCE demand from the
Provincial Health Commission after the implementation of the perspectives of the total amount, structure, and characteristics.
ECCE policy, and it is a random sample of cities in Sichuan
Province according to the proportion of population. It has The Current Situation of ECCE Demand
the largest scale, widest scope, and largest number of samples According to our analysis framework, ECCE demand mainly
nationwide; thus, it is typical and representative. The survey includes three aspects, namely, total amount, structure,
contents can be divided into two parts. The first part is a large- and characteristics.
scale population sample survey for families with children of First, the total demand for ECCE services in Sichuan Province
preschool age. A total of 49,838 questionnaires were distributed, is strong. According to the data, 57.13% of respondents expressed
and invalid questionnaires with blank and logical errors were their willingness to allow their children to receive ECCE services.
excluded. As a result, the remaining 44,540 questionnaires were From the perspective of “Hukou” or household registration
collected, and the recovery rate was 89.40%. The second part is system which was established in the 1950s in China and was
large-scale census data for ECCE institutions, which surveyed primarily intended to achieve social control of population
thousands of ECCE institutions in 21 prefecture-level cities or mobility and resource redistribution. It classifies all citizens as
autonomous prefectures. The contents of the survey involve rural and urban. The ratio of urban Hukou for children under
basic information about family members, family needs for early the age of three who choose ECCE is 5.30% higher than that of
childhood education and care, general information about ECCE rural Hukou. From the perspective of residence, the proportion of
institutions, and so forth. It has good representativeness and families that choose ECCE services has gradually increased from
research value. Therefore, this study uses the survey database 49.16 to 63.75% from rural areas to suburbs and urban areas.
to analyze the demand and supply of early child education From the perspective of minority areas, the proportion of families
and care in Sichuan Province. Next, it will be divided into in non-minority areas who choose ECCE is 10.70% higher than
three dimensions, namely, Sichuan Province’s city profile, basic that in minority areas. Detailed descriptions of willingness to
household survey information, and basic institutional survey demand ECCE services are provided in Table 4. YES means
information, to describe the social survey database of the choosing or accepting ECCE services, NO means being unwilling
Health Committee. to choose or rejecting ECCE services. YES% and NO% represent
There are 21 municipal administrative regions in Sichuan the percentage of the corresponding population (YES and NO in
Province. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province, and subsequent tables also have the same meaning).
Aba, Ganzi, and Liangshan Autonomous Prefectures are ethnic It can be seen that people with urban Hukou who live in cities
minority communities. Detailed descriptions of cities are are more willing to choose ECCE services. On the one hand,
provided in Table 2. this is because having urban Hukou means that you will receive
Before reporting the basic information of parents and their more public services, so it is possible to bear the cost of receiving
children in the database, this study performed some data cleaning ECCE services. On the other hand, people who live in cities often
work. Samples with children over the age of three were deleted have no time to take care of their children because they have
to ensure the representativeness of the sample. Meanwhile, we to work. Respondents from non-ethnic areas are more willing
excluded samples with many missing values. The final sample size to choose ECCE services than those from minority areas. This
is 40,087. may be because the economy in minority areas is underdeveloped
From the perspective of the gender of the children, the male and there is no such need. However, it may be due to insufficient
to female ratio is roughly balanced. From the perspective of age, emphasis on children’s education in the region.

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TABLE 2 | Basic situation of cities (in 2018).

City Resident population(10,000 GDP(100 million yuan) Urbanization rate(%) Number of kindergartens Number of health
persons) institutions

Chengdu 1633 15,343 73.12 2,528 10,755

Zigong 292 1,407 52.61 429 2,245
Panzhihua 124 1,174 66.59 194 1,056
Luzhou 432 1,695 50.46 723 4,616
Deyang 355 2,214 52.35 337 2,819
Mianyang 486 2,304 52.53 792 4,674
Guangyuan 267 802 45.63 308 3,540
Suining 320 1,221 50.02 512 3,779
Neijiang 370 1,412 49.10 673 3,297
Leshan 327 1,615 51.83 732 3,259
Nanchong 644 2,006 48.14 793 8,583
Meishan 298 2,026 46.32 928 5,260
Yibin 456 1,250 49.64 688 3,446
Guangan 324 1,690 41.86 741 4,293
Dazhou 572 1,067 45.52 748 3,438
Yaan 154 1,256 46.85 454 2,040
Bazhong 332 646 41.85 260 3,274
Ziyang 251 646 42.71 268 1,456
Aba 94 307 40.00 308 1,683
Ganzi 120 291 31.66 400 2,777
Liangshan 491 1,533 35.71 580 5,249

TABLE 3 | Basic information of families. TABLE 4 | Total demand for ECEC.

Variable Label Frequency Percent Variable Label Yes No Yes % No %

Age of children 0–1 years old 10,313 25.73 Hukou registration Urban registration 8,772 5,806 58.83 38.94
1–2 years old 13,723 34.23 Rural registration 13,165 11,430 53.53 46.47
2–3 years old 16,051 40.04 Other 487 427 53.28 46.72
Gender of children Male 19,994 49.88 Residence Urban 6,164 3,505 63.75 36.25
Female 20,093 50.12 Township 3,058 1,866 62.10 37.90
Age of parents Under 25 years old 6,614 8.25 Suburb 8,355 6,984 54.47 45.53
25–30 years old 27,800 34.68 Rural 4,708 4,869 49.16 50.84
31–35 years old 29,122 36.32 Other 336 242 58.13 41.87
36–40 years old 11,304 14.10 Ethnic areas Non-minority area 21,375 15,641 57.75 42.25
Over 40 years old 5,332 6.65 Minority areas 1,445 1,626 47.05 52.95
Income of parents 0–1,500 5,031 6.28
Other options include all options except those listed (the same as below).
1,500–3,000 10,072 12.56
3,001–5000 23,991 29.92
5,001–8,000 19,702 24.57
education institutions are 33.99 and 51.71%, respectively. From
Over 8,000 21,376 26.66
the perspective of service content, there is no significant
difference in the proportion of Sichuan Province’s demand for
household ECCE services and institutional ECCE services. The
proportion of the population who prefer institutional ECCE
Second, the demand for ECCE has an obvious structural services is 52.30%, and the proportion of the population who
division between service providers and service content. As prefer family ECCE services is 47.70%. Thus, 32.56% prefer
shown in Table 5, from the perspective of the nature of service education, 28.64% prefer nursing, and 65.73% prefer nursing
providers, people are more inclined to choose public institutions and education.
such as public kindergartens. The proportion of people who Third, the types of requirements are complex. The complexity
chose public kindergartens is 82.78%, and the proportion of of the types of needs is mainly reflected in the cost, care methods,
people who chose private kindergartens and commercial early and anxiety, as shown in Table 6. From the cost point of view,

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TABLE 5 | Structure of demand for ECEC. The Current Situation of ECCE Supply
ECCE supply refers to all services provided and all measures
Variable Label Yes No Yes% No%
taken by the public sector, market institutions, or the third sector
Service provider Public 33,184 6,903 82.78 17.22 to protect children’s rights and meet the special needs of children
kindergartens and their families in care and education. Based on the survey
Private 13,626 26,461 33.99 66.01 data of the Health Committee of Sichuan Province, this study
kindergarten performs a detailed analysis of the current situation of ECCE
Maternal and child 17,334 22,753 43.24 56.76 services in Sichuan Province. The findings are as follows.
health hospital First, from the number of childcare institutions, the number
Commercial early 20,729 19,358 51.71 48.29 of service opportunities that they can provide for children, the
education
number of ECCE opportunities that are already in use, and
institutions
the number of ECCE employees in different cities of Sichuan
Community 17,049 23,038 42.53 57.47
nursery Province, we can form a general picture of the total supply. In
Content Family ECEC 19,121 20,966 47.70 52.30
2020, there were 6,883 ECCE institutions in Sichuan Province
Institution ECEC 20,966 19,121 52.30 47.70
that provided childcare services for children under the age of
Preference Education 13,052 27,035 32.56 67.44
three. Chengdu was the city with the largest number of ECCE
Care 11,481 28,606 28.64 71.36
institutions, which accounts for 22% of the total. The city with
Both 26,349 13,738 65.73 34.27
the lowest number of childcare institutions is Ganzi, which
accounts for 0.20% of the total (other cities are shown in Table 7).
Second, all institutions in the province can provide 271,420 ECCE
TABLE 6 | Characteristics of demand for ECEC.
service opportunities at present, and the number of children
already enrolled is 148,739. From the perspective of specific
Variable Label Yes No Yes% No% cities, Chengdu provided 64,798 ECCE service opportunities,
accounting for 24% of the total supply. The lowest number of
Accept cost 0–10,00 22,088 17,999 55.10 44.90
ECCE service opportunities was 353, and they were provided
1,001–3,000 14,195 25,892 35.41 64.59
by Ganzi and accounts for 0.13% of the total. The average
3,001–5,000 3,804 36,283 9.49 90.51
ratio of the number of service opportunities that are being
Care type Full time 29,215 10,872 72.88 27.12 used to the number of service opportunities that are supplied is
Part time 7,805 32,282 19.47 80.53 54.80%; Leshan has the highest enrollment rate (89.65%), and
Anxiety Low age 27,852 12,235 69.48 30.52 Meishan (78.55%) and Suining (76.51%) follow closely (other
Expensive 27,848 12,239 69.47 30.53 cities are shown in Table 7). Third, the number of full-time ECCE
No time 19,819 20,268 49.44 50.56 employees in the province is 84,910. The city with the largest
number of employees is Chengdu with a total of 22,403 full-time
employees, and the city with the lowest number Ganzi with only
50 full-time employees (other cities are shown in Table 7).
55.10% of families can pay nursery fees of 1,000 yuan or less, Regarding the structure of the supply, there is not only
35.41% of families can pay nursery fees of 1,001–3,000 yuan, and a shortage of public ECCE institutions, but also a lack of
9.49% of families can pay nursery fees of 3,001–5,000 yuan. Thus, care institutions that provide simultaneous infant care and
the current average acceptable ECCE cost is about 1,300 yuan. education services. Market-oriented institutions provide more
From the perspective of the method of care, 72.88% of families ECCE products and services. Among the 6,883 institutions
choose full-time care, which is the dominant position. However, surveyed, only 17.86% are public nurseries. Regarding the
19.47% of families still choose part-time care. This shows that remaining 82.14% of non-public nurseries, 3,370 are profitable
families’ current care power is scarce. From the perspective of nurseries, accounting for 48.44% of the total. These for-profit care
anxiety, there are three main points. The first is that parents are institutions are mainly run by enterprises, preschool education
worried that it will be difficult for institutions to take care of groups, kindergartens, and individual businesses. The rest are
young children. The second is that the cost is too high for the non-profit nurseries that are mainly run by social groups and
family to afford it. The third is that parents are too busy at work community service centers, accounting for 31.79% of the total.
and there are no grandparents living in the home; thus, there is Inclusive nurseries pilot that are run by enterprise employers in
no one that can take care of the children at home. The proportion the workplace account for 1.91% of the total (details are shown in
of people who chose the above three points accounted for 69.48%, Table 8). Of the surveyed institutions, 22.40% said that their main
69.47% and 49.44%, respectively. business content was single early education services, including
In summation, the lack of potential caregivers at home is the courses for parents and children and interest classes; 6% of the
most important motivation for choosing ECCE services, followed institutions provided a single early childcare service, and 27.60%
by the hope that the child will receive a better education. The poor of the institutions provided simultaneous early education and
economic status of the family and the concern that institutions early childcare services. In addition, some institutions mainly
cannot take care of very young children are the main obstacles to provide other services, accounting for 44%, such as providing
reducing the willingness to make use of ECCE services. guidance or training courses for parents, or training related to

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TABLE 7 | The number of childcare service institutions, the number of available ECCE opportunities, the number of enrolments, and the number of employees in each city.

City Number of institutions Number of available Number of enrollment Proportion of enrolment Number of full-time
ECCE opportunities number to supply number (%) employees

Chengdu 1,538 64,798 36,341 56.08 22,403

Dazhou 675 30,085 17,266 57.39 8,154
Mianyang 567 27,824 11,106 39.92 7,442
Neijiang 417 11,765 5,434 46.18 3,924
Guang’an 388 13,230 6,425 48.56 2,442
Suining 375 14,965 11,451 76.51 5,197
Meishan 372 14,740 11,578 78.55 5,043
Yibin 358 11,664 4,902 42.02 4,408
Nanchong 353 16,894 7,575 44.83 4,233
Guangyuan 298 11,050 7,097 64.22 3,278
Deyang 227 11,716 6,508 55.54 2,177
Ziyang 226 7,844 3,244 41.35 2,469
Ya’an 224 6,336 3,889 61.31 3,235
Zigong 214 5,659 2,864 50.60 2,686
Leshan 198 6,436 5,761 89.65 2,021
Luzhou 110 4,857 1,942 39.38 1,125
Liangshan 107 3,163 1,581 49.98 1,050
Panzhihua 94 3,659 1,613 45.19 1,340
Bazhong 79 3,319 1,379 41.54 1,551
Aba 52 1,063 607 57.10 682
Ganzi 11 353 176 49.85 50

Total 6,883 271,420 148,739 54.80 84,910

TABLE 8 | The organization type and sponsor of served institutions. full-time day care services is relatively high, accounting
for 30.70%, followed by half-day care services, accounting
Organization Public Non public
type
for 24.80%, and other services such as temporary day care,
accounting for 10.90%. The second is about the distribution
Sponsor of the Local Enterprises Social groups Business of nursery employees in the province and the staffing of ECCE
organization government preschool education community service employer institutions. On the one hand, among all full-time employees,
groups centers caregivers account for 64.21%, and most full-time employees
kindergartens
individual
work in kindergarten classes. The distribution of full-time
businesses ECCE employees in various types of childcare institutions
Proportion 17.86% 48.44% 31.79% 1.91% is shown in Table 10. On the other hand, the survey data
also show that at present, only 62% of institutions are fully
staffed, equipped with heads of institutions, professional
TABLE 9 | The service content of surveyed institutions. teachers, healthcare personnel, and other service personnel,
while 32.60% of institutions lack healthcare personnel. Only
Service content Proportion 30.50% of institutions require relevant academic certificates
for their managers, professional teachers, and healthcare
Single education service 22.40%
personnel. The third is about the safety and health conditions of
Single care service 6.00%
childcare institutions. In terms of institutional environment and
Both education and care service 27.60%
facilities, the safety and health conditions of market-oriented
Other services 44.00%
institutions are generally uneven and often inferior to those
of public institutions. Fourth, research shows that ECCE
service charges vary between different types of institutions
the maternity period, as well as real-time home education services (Table 11), different organizers (Table 12), and different
(details are shown in Table 9). regions (Table 13), and the charge gap is relatively large.
Finally, with regard to the characteristics of supply, the first For instance, public ECCE institutions and childcare centers
is the type of ECCE services provided by childcare institutions. attached to kindergartens charge less; the average monthly
Survey data show that the proportion of institutions providing charge is less than 1,000 yuan/month/student. However, the

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Peng et al. Early Childhood Care and Education

TABLE 10 | Number of employees in nursery institutions in Sichuan Province in 2020.

Type of mechanism Nursery institution Kindergarten classes Family care center Early childhood Total
education institutions

Number of employees 12,901 696,686 362 1,961 84,910

Number of caregivers among 8,258 44,804 280 1,187 54,529
employees
Proportion of caregivers among 64 60 77 61 64
employees (%)

TABLE 11 | Charges of different types of ECCE institutions in Sichuan Province. First, from the perspective of the industry itself, the ECCE
service industry is a newly emerging industry in China. The
Organization Nursery Kindergarten Family Early childhood
category institution classes care education institutions
cognition and concept of social support education have lagged
center take classes behind for some time, and the public’s understanding of
this industry is still very limited, resulting in the sluggish
Average 1,885.81 860.44 1,459.31 1,787.48 development of the industry as a whole. Second, from the
monthly government level, the top-level design of ECCE services is not
charge (U)
perfect, the access standard system and the related policy system
and supporting laws and regulations have not been established,
and there are problems in ECCE service delivery, such as the
lack of the overall management of various departments and
monthly average of other types of institutions is higher than unclear management subjects. This means that the industry
1,000 yuan/month/student. itself lacks corresponding supervision and has a trend of savage
growth. Third, from the perspective of demand, the demand for
ECCE is relatively strong. While people hope to take care of
DISCUSSION themselves at home as much as possible, they also hope that
Main Findings the government can provide relevant services. Therefore, they
Given that many existing studies have discussed the development are flocking to the early education services of public institutions,
of ECCE from the perspective of supply or demand separately, and are not very optimistic about market-oriented institutional
the literature lacks a discussion on the matching of supply and services, which means that there is a structural imbalance in the
demand. Based on the survey data of the Health Committee, demand for service institutions. Fourth, from the perspective
this study analyzes the status quo of ECCE services within an of supply, the resource base of urban ECCE service supply in
analytical framework of ECCE in Sichuan Province, China. Sichuan Province is insufficient. Although the market-oriented
The findings show that there is a mismatch between the ECCE service supply has increased in the last 5 years, demand
supply and demand of ECCE services in Sichuan Province. First, still exceeds the supply of ECCE services. Driven by interests,
the total supply cannot meet the total demand. Affected by the ECCE services have been gradually marketized. However, the
comprehensive two-child policy, the number of children aged institutions themselves may not accurately grasp the content and
three and younger has increased. With the miniaturization of the form of ECCE services, resulting in a mismatch between supply
family and women’s active participation in the labor market, the and actual demand. In addition, market-oriented institutions
family’s care function has weakened. Therefore, the total demand aim to make profits. When the profit-seeking, admission, and
for ECCE services is high (1 million), while the supply is far regulatory standards of ECCE services are missing, the service
from sufficient (270,000). The average enrollment rate is 54.80%. subjects tend to reduce the service standards to control costs.
There is clearly also a mismatch between the supply and demand Therefore, it is more difficult to guarantee the physical and
structure. Parents hope that the main body providing ECCE is mental safety and health of infants. Therefore, parents’ demand
the public subject (61.40%), and the service they want to receive for quality ECCE services cannot be met.
is care as well as education (65.73%). At present, ECCE is mainly
provided by the market (82.14%), and most of these institutions Policy Implication
only provide care services (27.60%). In addition, parents have a In order to further promote the development of ECCE in China
greater demand for family ECCE guidance services (47.70%), and to better meet the childrearing needs of women and families,
the current market supply is even less. Third, the demand and efforts should be made in several respects.
supply of ECCE professionals, institutional security facilities, the First, at the state level, measures should be taken to promote
environment, and other aspects are also incompatible. There are the nature of ECCE supply change toward being more inclusive
also significant differences in the quality of health and safety, staff, (49, 50). The government should regard ECCE services as public
service content, and environmental facilities among different services in terms of people’s livelihoods, and provide more
institutions. There are many reasons for this mismatch, but the funding for public care and education services for children aged
primary reasons are as follows. three and younger. It is also necessary to actively explore how

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Peng et al. Early Childhood Care and Education

TABLE 12 | Charges of ECCE institutions of different organizers in Sichuan Province.

Organizers Public sector Private sector Cooperation between the Enterprises and Others
public and private sectors institutions office

Average monthly charge (U) 487.70 1,150.21 941.87 1,092.79 1,312.59

TABLE 13 | Charges of ECCE institutions in different cities of Sichuan Province. Strengths and Limitations
In this study, we analyze the situation of early childhood care
City Average monthly City Average monthly
and education services in Sichuan province in China through an
charge (U) charge (U)
analytical framework of matching the demand and supply. Our
Chengdu 1,994.00 Yibin 824.58 contribution is reflected in two ways. First, this study establishes
Bazhong 1,207.08 Leshan 800.03 an analytical framework to assess China’s ECCE by matching
Luzhou 1,075.94 Liangshan 781.28
supply and demand. Second, this study takes official survey data
Ganzi 1,055.56 Zigong 773.19
as a solid foundation to analyze the ECCE situation of Sichuan
Mianyang 1,007.22 Suining 748.92
Province, and thereby provides data support for the conclusion
Deyang 997.58 Neijiang 743.06
of the analysis, ensuring that the research results are more reliable
ABa 984.03 Guangyuan 738.35
and accurate. However, there are two main limitations of this
paper. One is that due to data limitations, this study only uses
Meishan 962.25 Nanchong 647.59
Sichuan data to analyze the current situation in Sichuan, and
Panzhihua 854.92 Ziyang 628.37
lacks analysis of the supply and demand situation in the country.
Ya’an 839.50 Guangan 535.01
The other is to analyze the current status of ECCE services only
Dazhou 528.68
from the perspective of supply and demand, without in-depth
analysis of other influencing factors.

to participate in the supply of inclusive ECCE in conjunction CONCLUSION

with various sectors, especially education, health, community,
women’s federations, and childcare institutions. In general, this study analyzes the situation of early childhood
Second, at the community level, communities should be care and education services in Sichuan through an analytical
encouraged to provide more ECCE services, so as to enhance framework of matching the demand and supply. The findings
the accessibility of ECCE services (51). It is suggested that reveal a mismatch between demand and supply of early
“community and proximity” care services be explored. Real childhood care and education services. This gap is likely to
estate developers should rationally plan ECCE and construct have a negative impact on children’s self-development, family
ECCE facilities in newly-built housing estates, while the original stability, and even the construction of national early childhood
communities could make use of the existing resources to set up care and education service system. So that measures must be
a public community infant care network equipped with more took for improving the mismatch between demand and supply
comprehensive and responsible teaching staff, and provide full- are provided at the state, community and institution levels.
time, part-time, or time-based flexible and diverse services. It is beneficial for children’s self-development, family stability,
Third, at the institutional level, ECCE should be promoted and even the construction of national early childhood care and
toward the direction of integration of care and education education service system in China. In the future, it is best for
(52). Institutions should speed up the development of scientific relevant research to use national data as much as possible to
standards for infant and childcare. Training bases should be increase universality, and further explore the influencing factors
established between universities and institutions to provide more of supply-demand imbalance.
practical opportunities for students in relevant specialties.
Finally, measures should be taken to promote the
development of high-quality ECCE supply. Institutions DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
should formulate clear institutional arrangements to ensure the
The original contributions presented in the study are included
implementation of rules and regulations, such as service objects,
in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be
service standards, employment requirements, site facilities, and
directed to the corresponding author.
supervision mechanisms. The ECCE service industry should
be urged to strengthen self-discipline awareness and gradually
purify the nursing service market environment. Institutions AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
also need to provide differentiated services according to the
actual demand direction, so as to be more effective in the FP and BY: conceptualization, writing–original draft, and
realization of the allocation of resources and to more accurately software. XZ: data curation, supervision, and writing–review
satisfy demand. and editing. YT: methodology and writing–review and editing.

Frontiers in Public Health | www.frontiersin.org 9 February 2022 | Volume 10 | Article 794967

Peng et al. Early Childhood Care and Education

All authors contributed to the article and approved the by Big Data in the Post-epidemic Era (2020Ziyan-gongguan05).
submitted version. The 2020 Project of the Social Development and Social
Risk Control Research Center of Sichuan Philosophy and
FUNDING Social Sciences Key Research Base, Research on Accurate
Community Emergency Management Under the Background
Full-Time Postdoctoral Research and Development Fund Project of Big Data (SR20A09) and the 2021 Dangshi-Dangjian
of Sichuan University, Research on the Accurate Configuration of Project of the Central Universities Basic Research Funds for
Medical Public Services Empowered by Smart Technology in the School of Public Administration of Sichuan University, the
Post-epidemic Era (skbsh2020-05) and Independent project of Development History and Future Prospects of Ethnic Higher
School of Public Administration of Sichuan University, Research Education under the Leadership of the Communist Party of
on the Accurate Supply of Medical Public Services Empowered China (2021DSDJ007).

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