Predicting selection into ECEC of higher quality in a universal context:The role of parental education and income

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Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Predicting selection into ECEC of higher quality in a universal context:

The role of parental education and income

Nina Alexandersen

, Henrik Daae Zachrisson

, Tiril Wilhelmsen

, Mari Vaage Wang

, Ragnhild Eek Brandlistuen

aNorwegianInstituteofPublicHealth,DepartmentofChildHealthandDevelopment,P.B.222Skøyen,0213Oslo,Norway

bUniversityofOslo,DepartmentofPsychology,P.B.1094Blindern,0317Oslo,Norway

cUniversityofOslo,DepartmentofSpecialNeedsEducation,P.B.1140Blindern,0318Oslo,Norway

a rt i c l e i nf o

Articlehistory:

Received31October2019 Receivedinrevisedform 30December2020 Accepted7January2021 Availableonline9February2021

Keywords:

Socioeconomicselection ECECquality

Student–teacherrelationship Disadvantagedchildren UniversalECEC MoBa

a b s t ra c t

ThereisconsensusaboutthepositiveeffectsofhighqualityEarlyChildhoodEducationandCare(ECEC) onchildren’sdevelopment,particularlyforchildrenfromlowersocioeconomicbackgrounds.However, limitedknowledgeexistsontheaccesstoqualityinECECinauniversalcontext.Thisstudyinvestigates potentialsocioeconomicselectionintoECECofhigherstructuralqualityinthecontextofauniversal, heavilysubsidized,andregulatedsysteminNorway,intendedtoprovideequalaccesstohighquality ECEC.Furthermore,weexploretheimpactofSESandstructuralqualityinECEConstudent-teacher relationshipquality.Ourconceptualmodeltakesintoaccounthowreadilyaccessibleinformationon differentqualityaspectsisforparents.WeusedatafromtheNorwegianMother,FatherandChildCohort Studylinkedwithteacher-reportedECECqualityforchildrenbornin2006–2009(N7,226),supplemented byregistrydataatECECandmunicipalitylevel.Wefindthathigherparentaleducation,andtoalesser degreeincome,predictchildattendanceofECECwithhigherstructuralqualityasratedbyECECteachers.

Further,higherparentalSESandstructuralquality(i.e.,developmentalmaterial,staffcompetenceand stability)predictbetterstudent-teacherrelationshipqualityintermsofhigherlevelofclosenessand lessconflict.ThesefindingssuggestthatambitionsofuniversalequalaccesstohighqualityECECarenot entirelyrealizedandmoreeffortsareneededtoensurehigherstructuralqualityinECECandenhance relationshipqualityforchildrenfromlessadvantageoussocioeconomicbackgrounds.

©2021TheAuthor(s).PublishedbyElsevierInc.ThisisanopenaccessarticleundertheCCBYlicense (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

1. Introduction

ItiswidelyrecognizedthathighqualityEarlyChildhoodEdu- cation and Careplays an important role in child development, particularlyforchildrenfromlowersocioeconomicbackgrounds (Dearing,McCartney,&Taylor,2009;OECD,2012;Sylva,Melhuish, Sammons, Siraj-Blatchford, & Taggart, 2011; Ulferts, Wolf, &

Anders,2019;vanHuizen&Plantenga,2018;Vandelletal.,2010).

Yet,disadvantagedchildrenaremorelikelytoexperiencelower ECECquality,drawingattentiontotheimportanceofimproving overallECECqualityandensureequityintheaccesstohighqual- ity ECEC (Stewart, Gambaro, Waldfogel, &Rutter, 2014; OECD, 2012).TheaffordabilityofhighqualityECECis particularlycru- cialinmarket-drivensystemswherepricesforhighqualityschool or center-based careare high, such asin the US (Magnuson &

∗Correspondingauthorat:NorwegianInstituteofPublicHealth,Departmentof ChildHealthandDevelopment,P.O.Box222Skøyen,0213Oslo,Norway.

E-mailaddress:[email protected](N.Alexandersen).

Waldfogel,2014).ThisisalsothecaseinsomeEuropeancoun- trieswithprimarilymarket-drivenECECsystemsfortheyoungest children (Ireland, theNetherlands, the UK, Switzerland), while availabilityconcernduetounmetdemandofformalcentercare foryoungerchildrenremainsevenincountrieswithmainlypub- licly subsidized ECEC such as France and Germany (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice,2019).

Countries with progressive universal access policies (e.g., NorwayalongwithotherNordiccountries)strivetoprovideaccess to highquality ECEC for all children irrespective of their par- ents’ financial means, by mandating children’sright to a place inECEC,expandingsupply,extensivelysubsidizingECECservices, andintroducingnationwideregulationsonquality.Nordiccoun- triesarecitedasanexampleofcountrieswithhighqualityECEC, this is reflected in requirementsfor staff qualifications, educa- tional focus and consistentpolicies for theentire ECEC period (EuropeanCommission/EACEA/Eurydice,2019).InNorway,ECEC isseenasa meantoreducesocialinequalities,increasewomen workforceparticipationandpromotepositivechilddevelopment.

Despite the efforts, socioeconomic inequalities in utilization of https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.01.001

0885-2006/©2021TheAuthor(s).PublishedbyElsevierInc.ThisisanopenaccessarticleundertheCCBYlicense(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

ECECareevidentacrossdifferentpolicycontexts,even incoun- trieswithprogressiveuniversalpolicies(Petitclercetal.,2017).

Thequestionremainswhethersocioeconomicinequalitiesalsoper- sistinaccesstoqualityinECECinuniversalcontexts.InNorway, childrenofparentswithhighereducation(butnotincome)were foundtoattendcenterswithsomewhathigherquality(ITERS-R) (Eliassen,Zachrisson,&Melhuish,2018).Yet,theevidencefrom suchcontextsislimitedandlargerpopulation-basedstudiesare lacking.

Socioeconomically disadvantaged children evidently benefit most from attending ECEC across early childhood in Norway (Dearing,Zachrisson,Mykletun,&Toppelberg,2018;Zachrisson, Dearing,Blömeke,&Moser,2017).EventhoughNorwayisconsid- eredtorepresentahighqualityECECcontext,thereareanumber ofweaknessesregardingexistingregulationsandcurrentpractices includingashortageofeducatedstaff,exemptionsonstaffqual- ificationsandnospecificregulationsformonitoring,maintaining andimprovingprocessquality(OECD,2015)thatallowsvariations inquality.Infact,arecentstudyhasfoundthatquality(ITERS-R Infant ToddlerEnvironmentRatingScale-Revised) inNorwegian ECEC centerswasmuch lowerthan expected(Bjørnestad&Os, 2018).Aspolicymakersstrive toreduce socialinequalitiesand specificallyachievementgapsineducation,itiscrucialtounder- standiftherearesystematicsocioeconomicdifferencesintheuse ofECECofhigherquality.Ifdisadvantagedchildrenarelesslikely toattendhighqualityECEC,itmaybeanindicationthatthecur- rentuniversalpoliciesareinsufficientforensuringequalaccess.If thisisthecase,potentialimplicationsarereducedopportunities fordisadvantagedchildren,economicinefficienciesandincreased socioeconomicinequalitiesinthesociety.Thisstudyaimsatinves- tigating socioeconomic selection intoECEC of higher qualityin thecontextofauniversal,heavilysubsidized,regulatedsystem, therebycontributingtothelimitedevidenceonthissubjectand informingpolicymakersabouttheadequacyofexistinguniversal policies.

1.1. Thecontextofuniversalaccess:theNorwegianmodelofECEC Norway represents a setting with a nationwide uni- versal, integrated, unitary setting ECEC system (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2019). The aim is to provide an equalaccesstohighqualityECECforallchildrenfromtheageof1 (legalrighttoaplaceinECEClinkedtotheendofgenerousparental leavebenefits)to5yearsold(uptostartofprimaryeducation), irrespective of theirsocioeconomicbackgroundand geographic location.Overtheyearsrelevantforthisstudy(2006–2015),the national coverage hasexpandedfrom 80%to90% for 1−5 year olds,from62%to81%for1−2yearoldsandfrom93%to97%for 3−5yearolds(StatisticsNorway,2017).Asper2019,92%ofall childrenintheageof1−5yearsattendedECEC(StatisticsNorway, 2020).

ECEC isheavilysubsidizedwithcapped monthlyfees,which were NOK 2,250in 2006 (app.USD 350)and NOK2,580 (app.

USD320)in2015,andfeereductionsforsiblingsandlow-income families(MinistryofChildrenandFamilies,2005a;NorgesBank, 2020).Aspernow,themaximummonthlyfeeisNOK3,135(app.

USD350exchangerateJanuary2020,therehasbeenasubstan- tialdepreciationofNOKovertheyears)andshouldnotexceed6%

ofahouseholdincomeperECECplaceforthefirstchild(Ministry ofEducation&Research,2020;NorgesBank,2020).Feesarethe sameforpublicandprivateinstitutions.Allcentres,bothpublicand private,aresubsidizedbythegovernmentandobligedtofollow thenationallyregulatedqualitystandards(MinistryofEducation

&Research,2005),concerningstaffeducation,staff:childratioand contentofcurriculum.Thenationalregulationsonstaff:childratio werenotlegallyenforcedduringthestudyperiod,but1:3forsmall

children (under3years old)and 1:6for olderchildren (over 3 yearsold)wasacommonpractice.Staffeducationwasprimar- ilyregulatedthroughrequiringpreschooleducation(nowcalled Kindergartenteachereducation)forthepedagogicalleader(though exemptionswereallowed)andthepedagoguetochildnorm,which was1:7−9forsmalland1:14−18forolderchildren(now1:7and 1:14)(MinistryofChildren&Families,2005b;MinistryofEducation

&Research,2017).

Parentsin Norway arenot able todirectlychoose theECEC center,butmustrankthecenterstheypreferintheirapplication tothemunicipality.Themunicipalitymakestheultimatedecision based on the availability and parental preferences, prioritizing childrenaccordingtotheirdateofbirthandchildrenwitholder siblingsinthesamecenter.Municipalitiesarerequiredtofacilitate acoordinatedadmissionintoECECandensureequaltreatmentof childrenaswellaspublicandprivateECEC(MinistryofEducation

&Research,2005)thatconstitutearound50%ofECECinNorway.

TheECECcentersareusuallydividedintodepartmentsforyounger andolderchildren,andchildrennormallyattendthesamecenter exceptwhenthefamilymovesorparentsaredissatisfiedwiththe center.

IncontrasttotheU.S.forexample,whereQualityRatingand ImprovementSystem(QRIS)providesaneasilycomparablequal- ity rating for different preschools, there is limited information forevaluationofqualityinNorway.ParentsinNorwaycancom- paredifferentECECcentersbyaccessingpubliclyavailableonline informationonsomestructuralqualitycharacteristics(e.g.,type ofECEC,ownership,openinghours,numberofchildren,child-staff ratio,shareofstaffwithpreschooleducation,parentalsatisfaction, spaceforplayandactivitiesperchild).Alternativelyoraddition- ally,parentscanobtaininformationaboutECECcharacteristicsby contactingECECcentersofinterest.

1.2. ECECquality

ECECqualityisacomplexandmultifacetedconceptthatisusu- allydefinedintermsofstructuralandprocessqualityindicators.

Structuralqualityincludesfactorssuchasgroupsize,child-staff ratio,space,materialsand staffqualifications.These factorsare moredistaltochilddevelopmentandexpectedtoprimarilywork indirectlythroughinfluencing processquality.Processqualityis moreproximaltothechildandconcernsdifferentaspectsofevery- dayinteractionsbetweenstaffandchildrenandamongchildren (seee.g.,Slot,2018).Processquality,includingglobalanddomain- specific measures, has been demonstrated to have small, but positiveandlastingeffectsforchildren’sacademicdevelopment (e.g.,Ulfertsetal.,2019).Oneparticularlyimportantdimensionof processqualityisstudent-teacherinteractionsandrelationships.

Student-teacherrelationships (also referred to as teacher-child relationshipsintheliterature)aregainingacentralroleinenhanc- ingeducationalqualityandpromotingpositivechilddevelopment (Sabol & Pianta, 2012). Close relationships have a potential to improve both academicand socioemotionalfunctioning among childrenwithbehavioranddemographicrisks,whileconflictseems toworsennegativeoutcomesforchildrenwithbehaviorproblems (Sabol & Pianta,2012).A commonly used measure of student- teacherrelationshipin researchinvolvingpreschooland school childrenistheStudent-TeacherRelationshipScale(STRS)(Pianta, 2001)thathasbeenshown tocorrelatewithobservedstudent- teacherinteractionsandrelationships(Hartz,Williford,&Koomen, 2017; Howes &Ritchie,1999).Research hasdemonstrated that STRS (including subscales of closeness and conflict) relates to children’sacademic and socioemotionaldevelopment withevi- denceoflong-termseffectsextendingintoadolescence(e.g.,Ansari, Hofkens,&Pianta,2020;Pianta&Stuhlman,2004;Valiente,Parker, Swanson,Bradley,&Groh,2019).

Fig.1.Conceptualmodel:relationbetweenparentalSES,structuralqualityinECECandSTR.

Note.ThedashedlinedenotesthetotaleffectofparentalSESonstudent-teacherrelationship(STR)quality.Thiseffectincludesbothpotentialindirecteffectsviastructural qualityandothereffectsfromSEStoSTR(e.g.,certainparentalandchildcharacteristicsassociatedwithSES,suchasstrongersocialskillsthatcaninfluenceSTR).Control variablesarenotincludedinthefiguretosimplifytheillustration.

1.3. Conceptualmodel:SESandECECquality

Inthissection,wepresentaconceptualmodel(Fig.1)explor- ing potentialmechanisms for howSES can belinkedto higher structuralqualityinECEC,andhowSESandstructuralqualitymay predictstudent-teacherrelationship(STR)quality.Onepotential mechanismlinkingSESandECECqualityisthathigherSESpar- entsmayhavehigherpreferencesforqualityincludingeducational anddevelopmentalaspectsofECEC,comparedtolowerSESpar- ents(Johansen,Leibowitz,&Waite,1996;Peyton,Jacobs,O’Brien,

& Roy, 2001; Stahl, Schober,&Spiess, 2018;Vandenbroeck, De Visscher,VanNuffel,&Ferla,2008).Yet,observedparentalchild carechoicesandperceiveddifferencesinpreferencesmay,infact, reflectpreexistingopportunitiesandconstraints(Chaudry,Henly,

& Meyers, 2010; Coley, Votruba-Drzal, Collins, & Miller, 2014;

Meyers&Jordan,2006;Vandenbroecketal.,2008;Weber,2011).

Inthecontextofuniversalsystems,wherebarriersassociatedwith affordabilityaremainlyremoved,parentalchoicesandpreferences mightstill beconstrainedbyvaryingavailabilityofhighquality ECEC(Becker&Schober,2017;Vandenbroecketal.,2008,e.g.,asa resultofresidentialsegregationandparentalpreferencesforECEC proximityBecker&Schober,2017).

Inlinewiththeearlierliterature(e.g.,Becker&Schober,2017;

Stahletal.,2018)wearguethathigherSESparentsmayhavebet- ter knowledgeand information. Specifically,higherSES parents mightbemoreinformedaboutqualityinECEC,includingdifferent dimensionsofqualityandtheirsignificanceforchilddevelopment, andthusbebetterequippedtoevaluateclassroomquality,com- paredtolowerSESparents(Cryer,Tietze,&Wessels,2002;Mocan, 2007).Associalnetworksarestratifiedbylocationandsociode- mographiccharacteristics(Chaudry,2004),parentsofhigherSES mayaccessmoreaccurateinformationaboutdifferentECECalter- nativesthroughtheirmorecompetentandbetter-informedsocial networks.ParentsofhigherSESmayalsoemploymoreeffective searchstrategies(Vandenbroecketal.,2008), possiblyreflecting betterinformationorknowledgeonwhenandhowtolookforECEC.

InapotentialevaluationoftheECECcenter’squality,parents will likelybasetheirdecisions onmoreeasilyobservable qual- ity characteristics(Becker&Schober,2017; Mocan, 2007;Stahl etal.,2018).Further,wesuggestthatparentsmaypartlyrelyon observablestructuralqualitycharacteristicsintheirexpectationof unobservablepriortoselectionSTRquality.Thisissomewhatin

linewithanearlierstudyintheU.S.(Mocan,2007)arguingthat underconditionofinformation asymmetrybetweentheparents andthecenters,theparentsare forcedtoextractqualityinfor- mation,thoughoftenunsuccessfully,fromobservablecenterand classroomcharacteristics.Thisisparticularlythecasefordifficult toobservequalitycharacteristics.Sincelargerinformationasym- metrieshave beenfoundfordifficulttoobservequalityaspects andparentalcharacteristicsweremorestronglyrelatedtoinforma- tiongapsforhighlyobservablecharacteristics(Camehl,Schober,&

Spiess,2018),wemaydiscoverlargersocioeconomicdifferences formoreeasilyobservablestructuralqualityattributes.

However,Mocan(2007)alsoshowedthatparentsareweakly rationalnotusingallinformationavailablewhenassessingECEC quality.Moreover,asaresultoflimited andimperfectinforma- tion,littleexperience,limitedtimeframeforfindingchildcareand costsassociatedwithsearchingandevaluatingdifferentcarealter- natives,parentsrelyextensivelyontheirsocialnetworkasasource ofinformationthatalsolimitsandfiltersthisinformationthrough culturalandsocialnorms(Meyers&Jordan,2006).Thus,because ofweakrationality,timeandresourceconstraints,inexperience, limitedinformation,andnotalwaysclearlinkbetweenstructural qualitycharacteristicsand STRquality,parentsmayinsteaduse shortcutstoassessqualityrelyingoninformationfromtheirsocial network.

Duetoa relatively compressedincomedistribution and rel- atively small wage differences between high- and low-skilled workers, the correlation between education level by year and incomeaftertaxamongcohabitingcoupleswithchildrenunder school age is 0.37 (authors own calculation in administrative recordsfortheNorwegianpopulation).Inaddition,maternaland paternalincome have beenshown tohave a differentialeffect ontheamountofnonmaternalcarereceived(NICHDEarlyChild CareResearchNetwork,1997)andconcernforeducationalaspects (Johansenetal.,1996).Therefore,botheducationandincome,as wellasmaternalandpaternalsourcesofincome,canbeinterest- ingandmeaningfulindependentpredictors.Insum,webuildon previousresearchinproposingamodelforparents’selectionof theirchildintohigherqualityECECbasedonhowreadilyavailable andinterpretabletheyfindinformationaboutdifferentaspectsof quality.WehypothesizethathigherSESparentsaremorelikelyto selectECECofhigherstructuralqualitythatmayalsopredictSTR quality.

1.4. AddressingalternativeexplanationsofSESselection

WithallstudiesonselectionintoECECbeingnon-experimental, statistical control for alternative explanations is crucial for strengthening theinternal validity of anyinference (Duncan &

Gibson-Davis,2006).Previousstudiesinthisareahavehighlighted multipledomainsofpotentiallyimportantvariables.Besidesthe SES variables, these include variables related tofamily cultural background,parentalbeliefsandinvolvement,householdcompo- sition,maternalcharacteristicsandvariouschild-levelfactors,as wellascenterandregionalcharacteristics(e.g.,Becker&Schober, 2017; Coley et al., 2014; Eliassen et al., 2018; Grogan, 2012;

Petitclerc et al., 2017; Stahlet al., 2018; Zachrisson, Janson, &

Nærde, 2013).While alltheabove-mentionedfactorscanaffect ECECchoicesand arerelevantpredictorsofselectionintoECEC, not allthesefactorswillconfoundtheassociationbetweenSES and ECECqualityjeopardizingtheinternalvalidityofthestudy.

Weemployedcausaldirectedacyclicgraphs(DAGs)(Pearl,2000;

Textor,Hardt,&Knüppel,2011)toidentifyappropriatevariables thatrequirestatisticaladjustment.AssumingthatSESaffectsstruc- tural ECEC quality through influencing unobserved preferences, knowledge,informationandopportunitiesandthatstructuralqual- itycanthenpredictSTRalongwithparentalSES,weestimatethe totaleffectofSESonstructuralqualityandSTR.Theminimalsuffi- cientadjustmentrequiredinclusionofvariablesconceptualizedto affectbothSES,unobservedparentalpreferences,knowledge,infor- mationandopportunitiesandSTR(i.e.,parentnon-nativespeaker, singlemother andmother’sage). Havinga non-nativespeaking parent may affect family educational level and income, shape parentalpreferences,knowledge, informationand opportunities toevaluateandaccessECECqualityandmayinfluenceSTR(e.g., throughparentalandchildren’slanguagecompetenceandcultural differencesin socialbehavior).Beingasinglemotherwillaffect measuresoffamilySESaswellasinfluencepreferences,informa- tionandopportunities(e.g.,availabletimeandfinancialresources).

Mother’sagemaypredicteducationallevelandincome(i.e.,older mothersaremorelikelytocompletehighereducationand/orhave ahigherlevelofincome)aswellasaffectpreferencesandknowl- edge.Additionally,wecontrolforchild-levelcharacteristics(child’s temperament,behavior,gender)andforhowlongtheteacherhas knownthechildthatcaninfluenceSTR.Includingthesevariables canimproveprecisionoftheestimatesandreducetheunexplained variationinSTR.Finally,wecontrolforwhetherparentsreported thattheyhavechangedchildcare,astheymayhavesoughtcen- terswithhigherstructuralquality.Weincludeadditionalcontrol variables relatedtoECECandmunicipalitycharacteristicsinthe sensitivityanalysestoaccountforsomeofthepotentialmediating mechanisms(e.g.regional-levelopportunitiesandconstraints)in therelationbetweenSESandstructuralquality.

1.5. Thepresentstudy

Thepurposeofthisstudyistoexplorepotentialsocioeconomic selection into ECEC of higher structural quality, and to exam- ineifstructuralqualityalong withSESpredictsSTR,takinginto accountaccessibilityofinformationondifferentqualityaspectsto parents.Thecurrentstudyexpands,inseveralways,theexisting researchliteratureinthecontextofuniversalECECsystemwhere parents havea limitedinformationfor priorevaluation ofECEC quality.First,thisstudycontributestofillingthegapinresearch onaccesstoECECqualityintheNordicuniversal,integrated,uni- tary setting, utilizing rich data from a nationwide prospective cohortstudy.Second,inadditiontodifferentstructuralfeatures, this studyincludesthestudent-teacherrelationshipqualitythat appearstoplayanimportantroleinenhancingeducationalqual- ity andimprovingchildren’sfunctioning(Sabol&Pianta,2012).

Finally,weexploreindividualcontributionofparentaleducation, maternaland paternalincome,while accountingfor alternative explanationsofassociationsbetweenSES,structuralqualityand STR.

2. Methods

2.1. Dataandstudypopulation

Thestudyisbasedonthesub-cohortofchildren,participatingin theNorwegianMother,FatherandChildCohortStudy(MoBa),for whichquestionnairedatafromECECteacherswerecollectedwhen theywere5yearsoldN7,436(inthemainanalyses7,226).ECEC teachersofthechildrenbornbetween2006and2009wereinvited toevaluatetheECECqualityandthechildren’sfunctioninginan ECECquestionnaire(Q-Cc).Theteacherresponseratewasaround 41%.ThesedatawerefurtherlinkedtotheMedicalBirthRegistry ofNorway(MBRN)(Irgens,2000),thatisanationalhealthregistry containinginformationaboutallbirthsinNorway.Finally,these dataweremergedwithECEC-levelregistrydatafromTheNorwe- gianDirectorateforEducationandTrainingandmunicipality-level registrydatafromtheStatisticsNorway.

MoBaisaprospectivepopulation-basedpregnancycohortstudy conductedbytheNorwegianInstituteofPublicHealth(Magnus etal.,2016).ParticipantswererecruitedfromalloverNorwayin 1999−2008.Thewomenconsentedtoparticipationin41%ofthe eligiblepregnancies.TheMoBacohortnowincludes114,500chil- dren,95,200mothersand75,200fathers.Thecurrentstudyisbased on12thversionofquality-assureddatafilesreleasedforresearch in2020thatincludedonlythesub-cohortofchildrenwithQ-Cc data.

2.2. Ethicalconsideration

MoBa has been approved by The Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REC) and The Norwegian DataProtection Authority (DPA).Thecurrent studyhasa sepa- rateapprovalfromREC(2018/1918/REKsør-øst).Informedwritten consentwasobtainedfromallparticipantsinMoBa.

2.3. Measures

2.3.1. Structuralquality

Measuredatthedepartmentorbase(i.e.,moreflexible/open grouporganization)level.Spaceanddevelopmentalmaterialswere measuredbyaskingECECteacherstorateitssufficiencyandavail- abilityonascalefrom1(“completelydisagree”)to5(“completely agree”).Groupsizewasbasedonteachers’reportedtotalnumber ofgirlsandboys.Child-staffratiowasestimatedbydividingthe totalnumberofgirlsandboysbythetotalnumberofmaleand femaleemployees.Staffeducationwasdefinedasa shareofall employees(includingtheheadofthedepartment)withapreschool educationofthetotalnumberofmaleandfemaleemployees.Staff stabilitywasratedbyECECteachersonascalefrom1(“verygood stability”)to5(“notgoodstability”).Themeasurewasreversed inthesubsequentanalysiswhere5indicated“verygood stabil- ity”.StaffcompetencewasmeasuredbyaskingECECteachersto indicatetheiragreementonascalefrom1(“completelydisagree”) to5(“completelyagree”)thatemployeesinthedepartmenthave sufficientlygood competencewithregardtosocialcompetence, bullyingamongchildren,behaviorproblems,languagecompetence andshychildren.

2.3.2. Student-teacherrelationship

Closenessand conflictweremeasuredby 15questions from theshortformoftheStudent-TeacherRelationshipScale(STRS-SF)

(Pianta,2001)andratedbyECECteachersonascalefrom1(“not trueatall”)to5(“verytrue”).

2.3.3. RegistrydataatECECandmunicipalitylevel

Additionally,wehaveacquiredregistrydataonECECquality:

theshare(%)ofstaffwithapreschooleducation,andapprovedplay andrestarea(m²)perchildatECECandmunicipalitylevel,aswell asdataonECECcoverageandspendinginthemunicipalities.These datawereusedinthesensitivityanalyses.

2.3.4. Socioeconomicstatus

Parental educationand incomewerereportedbymothersin theMoBa15thweeksofpregnancyquestionnaireandfathersin theperiod2000−2009.Mothersandfatherswereaskedtoindicate thehighestlevelofeducationtheyhavecompletedandtheiryearly grossincome(includingchildsupport,unemploymentbenefitsand otherallowances).Educationincludedsixcategoriesrangingfrom 9-yearsecondaryschooltocollege/universitymorethan4years (Master’sdegree,medicaldoctor,PhD).Weoperationalizededu- cationasthehighestattainededucationinthefamily(e.g.,ifthe mother’seducationallevelwashigherthanthefather’s,weusedthe mother’seducationandviceversa)assumingacompensatingeffect of oneparent’s highereducationfor another’s lowereducation.

Educationwasthencombinedintothreecategories(duetoasmall numberofparticipantsinthelowesteducationalcategories):i)up tohighschooleducationii)highereducationcollege/universityup to4yearsandiii)highereducationcollege/universitymorethan4 years.Incomeoriginallyincluded7categoriesrangingfrom1(no income)to7(overNOK500,000ingrossincome)thatwereana- lyzedasthreecategoriesindicatingi)low(uptoNOK299,999)ii) middle(NOK300,000–499,999)andiii)highincome(NOK500,000 andhigher).

2.3.5. Controlvariables

Themaincontrolvariablesincludedparentnon-nativeNorwe- gianspeakerandsinglemother.Bothvariableswerereportedin theMoBa15thweeksofpregnancyquestionnairewhere moth- ers were askedto indicate civilstatus and whether thechild’s motherorfatherhadamothertongueotherthanNorwegian.An additionalcontrolvariableforstructuralqualityincludedmother’s age(MBRN).AdditionalcontrolvariablesforSTRincludedchild’s genderandtemperamentreportedbyparentsintheMoBachild’s 6thmonthsquestionnaire,teacher-reportedchild’sbehaviorand time (in years)theteacherhasknown thechild(Q-Cc).Child’s temperamentwasmeasuredby10questionsbasedontheInfant CharacteristicsQuestionnaire(ICQ)(Bates,Freeland,&Lounsbury, 1979)andchildren’sbehaviorwasmeasuredby5questionsfrom theChildBehaviorChecklist(CBCL)(Achenbach&Ruffle,2000)and 7questionsfromTheConners’ParentRatingScale-Revised:Short Form(CPRS-R)(Conners,Sitarenios,Parker,&Epstein,1998).

2.4. Statisticalmethods

2.4.1. Structuralequationmodelling

We modelledselectionintoECECofhigherstructuralquality andtheeffectsofSESandstructuralqualityonSTRbymeansof structuralequationmodelling(SEM)inMplusversion8.2.Thefour mainSEMmodelswereestimatedwitharobustWeightedLeast Squaresestimator(WLSMV)andparameterization‘theta’.Inthe firstmodel,weestimatedthetotaleffectofSESonallstructural qualityindicatorsandSTRqualitytoseeifhigherSESpredicted higherstructuralqualityandbetterSTR(allqualityindicatorswere includedinthesameSEMmodelandassumedtocorrelate).Inthe secondmodel,weestimatedtheeffectsofdifferentstructuralqual- itycharacteristicsonSTRtoseeifhigherstructuralqualityinECEC hadanimpactonSTR(closenessandconflictwereincludedinthe

sameSEMmodelandassumedtocorrelate).Inthelasttwomod- els,weexploredpotentialindirecteffectsofSESonclosenessand SESonconflictviastructuralqualityindicators(thatareassumed toexistpriortoformingofSTR).Weincludedthosestructuralindi- catorsthatwereshowntorelatetoSESandpredictSTR(examining individualmodelsforclosenessandconflict,structuralqualityindi- catorsandSESwithandwithoutadjustmentforcovariates).To exploretheindirecteffectsofSESweregressedrelevantstructural qualityindicators onSES variables,and STR onboth thestruc- turalqualityindicatorsandSESvariables,incombinationwiththe MODELINDIRECTcommand.Thisproducedtotal,directandindi- recteffectsseparatelyforclosenessandconflict.Inallmodels,we controlledforpotentialfamily-levelconfoundersandthechangeof care,aswellaschild-levelcharacteristicsintheregressionsforSTR.

Dummyvariablesformiddleandhighcategoryofincomeand highereducationallevelswereincludedaspredictorsintheSEM modelswiththelowestcategoriesofeducationandincomeserv- ingasreference(i.e.,uptohighschooleducationandincomeupto NOK299,999).WechosenottoanalyzeSESasacompositemeasure, educationandincomewerenothighlycorrelated(polychoriccorre- lationwithacasewisedeletionforeducationandmother’sincomer

=0.45;educationandfather’sincomer=0.30;mother’sandfather’s incomer=0.35)therebyprovidinganopportunitytoexploretheir individual effects. Space, developmental material, staff compe- tence,STR(closenessandconflict),aswellaschild’stemperament andbehaviorwereanalyzedaslatentvariables.Allitemsusedto measurethelatentvariablesweredefinedascategoricalvariables intheanalysistoaccountfortheirorderedresponsenature.Sepa- rateconfirmatoryfactoranalyses(CFA)wereperformedforlatent measurespriortoinclusionofthesemeasuresinthefinalanalysis, meaningfulresidualcovarianceswereaddedbasedonthemodifi- cationindices.

2.4.2. Missingdata

MissingdatawerehandledbymultipleimputationinMplus usingBayesiananalysisofunrestricted(H1)variance covariance model(Asparouhov&Muthén,2010; Muthén&Muthen, 2017;

Rubin,1987;Schafer,1997).Datawereimputedforallvariables thatweplannedtouseinthemainanalyses(withtheexceptionof adummyvariablechangeofchildcarethatwasusedasacondition forinclusioninsomeofthesensitivityanalyses),allthesevariables wereusedtocreate50imputeddatasets.Thedatasetsweresaved andusedinthefurtheranalyses.

3. Results

Descriptivestatisticsforallvariablesincludedinthemainanal- ysesarepresentedinTable1(detaileddescriptivestatisticswithall indicatorsofthelatentvariablescanbefoundinthesupplementary material).Allscalesinthecurrentstudyhaveshowngoodreliabil- ity,withpolychoricordinalalpha(Gadermann,Guhn,&Zumbo, 2012)rangingfrom␣=0.83to␣=0.91.Theresultsfromthefour SEMmodelsareprovided inTables 2and 3andFigs. 2and 3. Thesearetheaverageresultsoverthe50imputeddatasetswith standardized(STDYandSTDYX)estimates(regressioncoefficients) forlatentandobservedcontinuousvariablesandprobitregression coefficientsforanorderedcategoricaldependentvariablestaffsta- bility.Theeffectsofthecontrolvariables arenotpresenteddue toMoBa’s restrictive policiesto preventinfringement onother researchprojects.

3.1. TotaleffectsofSESonstructuralqualityandSTR 3.1.1. SESandstructuralquality

Theresults(Table 2)indicatethat ahigher level ofparental education(morethan4years)ispositivelyassociatedwithdevel-

Table1

Descriptivestatistics:qualityindicators,predictorsandcovariates.

Variables Missing/imputeddata% Mean(SD)% Polychoricordinalalpha

Space:playandrestarea(sufficiency) 0.3 3.66(0.86) 0.83

Developmentalmaterial(availabilityandaccessibility) 0.3 4.20(0.52) 0.80

Staffcompetence 0.7 3.84(0.65) 0.89

Staffstability 1.8 4.22(0.94)

Groupsize 4.3 20.51(5.62)

Child-staffratio 5.9 4.98(1.30)

Staff(%)withpreschooleducation 5.0 34.03(19.07)

Closeness(STR) 0.2 4.35(0.48) 0.85

Conflict(STR) 0.2 1.45(0.54) 0.91

Parentaleducation

Lowereducation:uptohighschooleducation 1.4 16

Highereducation:upto4years 1.4 38

Highereducation:morethan4years 1.4 46

Incomemother

Low(uptoNOK299,999) 3.6 44

Middle(NOK300,000−499,999) 3.6 49

High(NOK500,000andhigher) 3.6 8

Incomefather

Low(uptoNOK299,999) 2.3 21

Middle(NOK300,000−499,999) 2.3 54

High(NOK500,000andhigher) 2.3 25

Family-andchild-levelcontrolvariables

Parentnon-nativeNorwegianspeaker 2.7 11

Singlemother 1.4 2

Mother’sage 0.2 31.18(4.36)

Changedchildcare^a 2.8 47

Teacherhasknownthechild(years) 2.4 2.50(1.38)

Child’sgender(girl) 0.0 50

Child’stemperament(ICQ) 3.2 2.18(0.72) 0.86

Child’sbehavior(CPRS) 0.7 1.42(0.50) 0.93

Child’sbehavior(CBCL) 0.7 1.26(0.36) 0.85

Note:N=7,436(averageresultsover50imputeddatasets).ICQ-InfantCharacteristicsQuestionnaire;CBCL-ChildBehaviourChecklist;CPRS-ConnersParentRatingScale;

STR-Student-TeacherRelationship.

aMissingvaluesforchangedchildcarewerenotimputed(N=7,226)thisvariablewasusedasaconditionforinclusioninsomeoftheanalyses.

Figs.2and3. Regressions:total(SEStoSTR)andindirecteffects(SEStostructural quality×structuralqualitytoSTR)ofparentaleducationonSTR.

Note:N7,226(averageresultsbasedon50imputeddatasets).Standardizedesti- mateswith[95%CI].ControllingforotherSESvariables,family-andchild-level covariates(STRregression)andchildcarechange.Education:thehighesteduca- tioninthefamilymorethan4years(H),reference:uptohighschooleducation.

Allpotentialindirecteffects(developmentalmaterial,staffcompetenceandstabil- ity)areincludedinthesameSEMmodel.Staffcompetenceandstabilityareassumed tocorrelate.

Themodelfitforclosenessandconflict:RMSEA=0.03CFI=0.97TLI=0.97SRMR= 0.04.

*p<.05**p<.01***p<.001

opmentalmaterialattheECECdepartmentthatthechildattended (0.12ofastandarddeviationSD),similarinmagnitude,butnon- significanteffectwasobservedforhighmother’sincome.Higher parentaleducation(morethan4years)andhighmother’sincome werealsosignificantlyrelatedtohigherstaffcompetence(0.09and

0.12ofSD),whilehigherfather’sincomepredictedhigherstaffsta- bility.However,wefoundonlysmallandnon-significanteffects ofSESongroupsizeandchild-staffratio.Interestingly,theshare ofemployeeswithpreschooleducationwaspositivelyrelatedto higherparentaleducation(0.09and0.11ofSD),butnegativelyto highmother’sincome(-0.12ofSD).Inotherwords,childrenwith highlyeducatedparentsseemtoattendECECwithahighershare ofemployeeswithpreschooleducation,whilechildrenwithhigh- incomemothersappeartoaccesslowerqualityintermsofshareof employeeswithpreschooleducation.

3.1.2. SESandSTR

Regarding socioeconomic status and relationship quality (Table2).Having parents withhighereducation(0.13 and0.11 ofSD)anda fatherwithahigherincome(0.08ofSD)weresig- nificantlyrelatedtohigherlevelofstudent-teacherclosenessand lowerlevelofconflict(-0.15,-0.20and-0.10ofSD).Havingamother withhigherincomewasalso,thoughnon-significantly,relatedto higherlevelofcloseness(0.11ofSD).

3.2. EffectsofstructuralqualityonSTR

Ourresults(Table3)alsorevealadjustedassociationsbetween structural quality attributes and relationship quality. Higher teacherratingondevelopmentalmaterial,staffstabilityandstaff competencewereassociatedwithhigherratingonstudent-teacher closeness(0.24,0.09and0.13ofaSD)andlowerratingonstudent- teacherconflict(-0.08,-0.09and-0.04ofSD).Furthermore,space (playandrestarea)andgroupsizewerebothnegativelyrelatedto student-teachercloseness(-0.05and-0.05ofSD).

Table2 Regressions:totaleffectsofSESonstructuralqualityandstudent-teacherrelationship(STR),regressioncoefficients␤withstandarderrors(SE). Structuralquality(ECECdepartment/base)Relationshipquality(STR) Space:playand restareaDevelop.materialGroupsizeChild-staffratioStaffstabilityStaffcompetenceStaffwithpreschool educationClosenessConflict HypothesizedobservabilityEasilyobservablePotentiallyobservableNotobservable Highereducationupto4years0.01(0.04)0.07(0.04)0.01(0.04)−0.01(0.04)0.05(0.04)0.03(0.04)0.09(0.04)*0.13(0.04)**−0.15(0.04)** Highereducationmorethan4years0.09(0.04)0.12(0.05)**−0.02(0.04)0.07(0.04)0.02(0.04)0.09(0.04)*0.11(0.04)**0.11(0.04)*−0.20(0.05)*** Middleincomemother−0.02(0.03)−0.01(0.03)0.04(0.03)0.04(0.03)−0.004(0.03)0.03(0.03)−0.03(0.03)0.02(0.03)0.01(0.03) Highincomemother0.05(0.06)0.11(0.06)0.02(0.05)0.05(0.05)0.05(0.06)0.12(0.05)*−0.12(0.05)*0.11(0.06)0.01(0.06) Middleincomefather−0.03(0.04)0.01(0.04)0.03(0.03)0.04(0.03)0.10(0.04)**−0.03(0.04)0.04(0.03)0.08(0.04)*−0.07(0.04) Highincomefather0.002(0.04)0.08(0.05)−0.03(0.04)0.05(0.04)0.13(0.04)**−0.08(0.04)−0.02(0.04)0.05(0.04)−0.10(0.05)* Note:N=7,226(averageresultsover50imputeddatasets).AllqualitycharacteristicsareincludedinthesameSEMmodelandareassumedtocorrelate.Education:thehighesteducationinthefamily,referencecategory:upto highschooleducation.Income:referencecategorylowincome:uptoNOK299,999.Weaccountforwhetherparentsreportedthattheyhavechangedchildcareinallanalyses(dummyvariable).Family-levelcontrolvariablesfor estimatingthetotaleffectofSES:parentnon-nativespeaker,singlemotherandmother’sage(structuralquality).Child-levelcontrolvariablesinthemodelsforSTR:child’stemperamentpriortostartingECEC,teacher-reported child’sbehaviorinECEC(CBCL-ChildBehaviourChecklistforconflictandCPRS-ConnersParentRatingScaleforcloseness),teacherhasknownchild(years),andchild’sgender.Modelfitindices:RMSEA=0.03CFI=0.96TLI=0.96 SRMR=0.04. *p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001.

Table3

Regression:effectsofstructuralquality(ECECdepartment/base)onstudent–teacher relationship(STR),regressioncoefficients␤withstandarderrors(SE).

Relationshipquality(STR)

Closeness Conflict

Space:playandrestarea −0.05(0.02)* 0.001(0.02) Developmentalmaterial 0.24(0.02)*** −0.08(0.02)***

Groupsize −0.05(0.01)*** −0.02(0.02)

Child-staffratio 0.01(0.01) −0.03(0.02)

Staffstability 0.09(0.01)*** −0.09(0.01)***

Staffcompetence 0.13(0.02)*** −0.04(0.01)**

Staffwithpreschooleducation −0.01(0.01) 0.03(0.02) Note:N7,226(averageresultsover50imputeddatasets).Family-levelcontrolvari- ablesforestimatingtheeffectofstructuralqualitycharacteristicsonSTR:closeness andconflict:SES,parentnon-nativespeakerandsinglemother.Child-levelcon- trolvariables:child’stemperamentpriortostartingECEC,teacher-reportedchild’s behaviorinECEC,teacherhasknownchild(years),child’sgender.Weaccountfor whetherparentsreportedthattheyhavechangedchildcare.Bothclosenessand conflictareincludedinthesameSEMmodelandareassumedtocorrelate.Model fitindices:RMSEA0.03CFI0.96TLI0.96SRMR0.05.

* p<.05.

**p<.01.

***p<.001.

3.3. IndirecteffectsofSESonSTRviastructuralquality

Further,weexploredpotentialindirecteffects ofSESonSTR (separatelyforclosenessandconflict)viastructuralqualityindica- torsthatwererelatedtoSESandSTR.Duetospacelimitations,we presentourresultsforindirecteffects(pathSEStostructuralquality

×structuralqualitytoSTR)infiguresonlyforparentaleducation(see Figs.2and3).Thefiguresrepresenttheeffectsofthehighestlevelof education-college/universitymorethan4yearscomparedtothe referencecategory-uptohighschooleducation)onSTR:closeness andconflictwith[95%CI],whilecontrollingforotherSESvariables, potentialfamily-levelconfoundersandchild-levelcharacteristics thatmayaffectSTR.

3.3.1. Indirecteffects:SESandcloseness

Wefoundverysmall,significantindirecteffectsfromthehighest levelofparentaleducationtoclosenessviadevelopmentalmaterial 0.03[0.01;0.05]andstaffcompetence0.01[0.001;0.02],account- ingfor0.03and0.01ofSDofthetotaleffectofthehighestlevel ofparentaleducationoncloseness0.11[0.02;0.19].Boththetotal effectfromthehighestcategoryofmother’sincometocloseness 0.11[-0.01;0.22]andindirecteffectviadevelopmentalmaterial 0.03[-0.003;0.06]werenon-significant,whilesignificantindirect effectviastaffcompetenceamountedto0.02[0.001;0.03](ofSD) ofthetotaleffect.Theindirecteffectsfromthemiddleandhigh father’sincomeviastaffstabilityconstituted0.01[0.003;0.02]and 0.02[0.01;0.03](ofSD)ofthetotaleffects0.08[0.01;0.15]and0.05 [-0.03;0.13]withthelastonenotbeingstatisticallysignificant.

3.3.2. Indirecteffects:SESandconflict

Therewerealsoweaknegativeindirecteffectsfromthehigh- estlevelofparentaleducation(morethan4years)toconflictvia developmentalmaterial-0.02[CI-0.03;-0.004](ofSD)ofthetotal effect-0.20[-0.29; -0.11]. The indirecteffects fromthe middle andhighfather’sincomeviastaffstabilityaccountedfor-0.01[- 0.02;-0.003]and-0.02[-0.03;-0.004](ofSDrespectively)ofthe totalnon-significant-0.07[-0.14;0.01]andsignificanteffect-0.10 [-0.18;-0.01].

3.4. Sensitivityanalyses

We have conducted differentsensitivity analysesto explore mechanismsbehindtheobservedassociationsandtesttherobust-

nessoftheresults.Wehaveadjustedstandarderrorsforclustering attheECECleveltoallowfornon-independenceofobservations (multiplechildreninthesameECEC)inthesubsamplewithvalid ECECIDs(seeappendixTableA1).Around78%ofthetotalsam- ple had valid ECECIDs. In general, theeffects in the subgroup analysis were similar (somewhatstronger) and still suggesting that higher SES were associated withhigher structural quality.

Additional effects became significant (forspace, developmental material,andmother’smiddleincomepredictedhigherchild-staff ratio),somefeweffectsbecamenon-significant.

Inaddition,weaddressedconcernsregardingpotentialdiffer- encesinECECavailabilityacrossthemunicipalitiesandthathigher SESfamiliesliveinmoreaffluentmunicipalitiesandmightbemore likelytoattendhigherqualityECECbycontrollingforECECcover- ageandspendingwithinmunicipality.Moreover,wecontrolledfor potentialqualitydifferencesbetweenthemunicipalitiesbyinclud- ingtheshare(%)ofstaffwithpreschooleducationandplayandrest areaperchild(m²)inthemunicipality.Theseanalysesallowedus toaccountforsomeoftheimportantmediatingmechanismsin theobservedrelationsbetweenSESandstructuralqualityinthe subsamplewithvalidECECIDsthathavenotchangedchildcare.

We also adjusted standard errors forclustering toallowfor non-independenceofobservationsatthemunicipalitylevel.Even aftercontrollingforECECandmunicipalitycharacteristics,higher parentalSESpredictedhigherstructuralqualityintermsofdevel- opmentalmaterialandstability(seeappendixTableA2).

Furthermore,weexploredifhigherSESpredictedhigherqual- ityattheECEClevelwithregistrydataontheshareofstaffwith apreschooleducation,andplayandrestarea(m²)totalinECEC and perchild.Thiswasdoneinthesubgroupanalysisforthose withvalidECECID(thisallowedustolinktheregistrydata)and thosethatdidnotchangecare(asECECIDwerecollectedwhen children were5yearsoldand theregistrydatawereusedfrom theearlieryears).Thoughtherewasapositiverelationbetween ahighereducationandtheshareofemployeeswithapreschool education(unadjustedanalyses),theeffectsizeswereverysmall andnon-significant,whileanegativerelationwithmothersincome remained.

4. Discussion

Inthisstudy,weinvestigatedsocioeconomicselectionintoECEC ofhigherstructuralqualityinthecontextofuniversalaccess,and explored effects of parental SES and structural quality on STR quality. Inlinewithearlierresearchwe arguedthatone ofthe mechanismsforhowSEScanbelinkedtoahigherstructuralquality inECECisthroughpreferences,knowledgeandaccesstoinforma- tionaffectingparentalabilitytoevaluatequalityandthatparents willlikelybasetheirdecision onmoreeasilyobservablequality characteristics.Finally,wesuggestedthatparentsmaypartlyrely onobservablestructuralqualityintheirexpectationofunobserv- ablepriortoselectionSTRquality(i.e.,therearepotentialindirect effectsbetweenSESandSTR).

Results (Table2)suggested thatchildren fromfamilies with higher SES are more likely to attend ECEC of higher structural quality(particularlywithregardtodevelopmentalmaterial,staff competenceandstability)andappeartohaveabetterrelationship quality,thoughtheeffectsizeswerequitesmall.Resultsalsoindi- catedthatthesameaspectsofstructuralqualitypredictedhigher relationshipquality(Table3),butindirecteffectswereweak.

Overall, we did not observea consistentpattern suggesting greatersocioeconomicdifferencesforeasilyobservablecompared tomoredifficulttoobservequalityindicators.Recentstudiesfrom asimilarcontextalsodidnotprovideconsistentevidencetosup- portthisargument.WhileStahletal.(2018)reportedthatlower educatedparentsandparentswithmigrationbackgroundexperi-

encedlowerqualitymainlyforeasilyobservablequalityaspects, BeckerandSchober(2017)foundnosignificantsocialandethnic differencesforthemosteasilyobservablequalityindicators(group size,child-teacherratio).

Theobserved associationsbetweenSES and STRmay reflect thathigherSESparentsareabletoselectECECwithcertainchar- acteristicsthatmaypredicthigherrelationshipquality(including recommendationsfromtheirsocialnetworkandotherECECchar- acteristicsthatwedonotobserve),orthatrelationshipqualityis influencedbyparentalSES.Inthelastcase,onepotentialmecha- nismcanbethatchildrenofhighereducatedparentshavestronger socialandcommunicationskillsthatmakeiteasiertoestablisha morepositiverelationshipwiththeteacherorhighereducatedpar- entshaveabettercollaborationwiththeteachersthatfacilitatesa morepositiverelationshipwiththechild.

OurfindingsareinalignmentwiththeearlierNorwegianstud- iesthatfoundSESselectionintoECECinNorway.Indicationsof socioeconomicselectionhavebeenfoundbothwithregardtopar- ticipationinECECcenters(Petitclercetal.,2017;Sibley,Dearing, Toppelberg,Mykletun,&Zachrisson,2015;Zachrissonetal.,2013) andattendanceofECECcentersofhigherquality(Eliassenetal., 2018).

We observed somewhat more consistent patterns between parentaleducationandECECqualitycomparedtoincome.Inaddi- tion,theeffectofeducationwas,inmostcases,strongerwhennot controlledforincome.Theeffectsofmother’sandfather’sincome varied,both in terms ofstatistical significance and directionof associations.More specifically,a combinedmeasure ofparental educationwas significantly positively related tostaff qualifica- tions,intermsofbothteacher-reportedcompetenceattheunit andaformalpreschooleducation,aswellasconsistentlyrelatedto higherrelationshipquality.Moreover,significantpositivepatterns ofparentaleducationwereevidentacrossqualityindicatorswith adifferentdegreeofobservability.Mother’sandfather’sincome, ontheotherhand,werenotconsistentlyrelatedtoteacher’squal- ifications and the effects werenot found for quality indicators hypothesizedtobeeasilyobservabletoparentsinthemainanal- ysis(thoughsomesignificanteffectsappearedinthesubsample analysesTablesA1andA2).Parentalincomewasalsolessconsis- tentlyassociatedwiththerelationshipquality.Oneofthepotential explanationsforthesevariationscanbethatincomeplaysalesssig- nificantroleinNorway,whereaccessisuniversalandcentercare isheavilysubsidized,andthusmaybealessconsistentpredictorof quality.Parentaleducationisalsomorecloselyrelatedtoknowl- edgeandinformation,orassuggestedabove,mightpredictparental andchildren’ssocial andcommunicationskillsneededtoestab- lishgoodrelationships.Theseargumentsareinaccordancewith therecentstudybyStahletal.(2018)thatarguedthatknowledge, preferencesandnetworkmightbemoreimportantthanfinancial meansintheprocessofECECselectioninGermany.

SimilarlytoBeckerandSchober(2017),wefoundnoeffectsof socioeconomicstatusonotherstructuralattributessuchasgroup sizeandchild-staffratiointhemainanalysis.BeckerandSchober (2017)interpretedthelackofsignificantresultsforgroupsizeand child-staffratio(assumedtobethemosteasilyobservablequality aspects)asevidenceforlimitedsupportforthefamilyinvestment modelandparentalchoiceofECEC.Oursignificantresultsfordevel- opmentalmaterials(thatshouldbeeasilyobservabletoparents whentheycometotheECECcenter)donotquitesupportthiscon- clusion.Apossibleexplanationis thathigherSESparentsselect ECECbasedonstructuralqualityaspectsthatareexpectedtovary moreandmorepredictiveofchildwell-being.Parentswithhigher SESmay,ingeneral,valuethesequalityaspects(developmental material,staffcompetence,stabilityand education)higher than groupsizeandchild-staffratiowhenconsideringECECfortheir children.Wealsocannotruleoutthatanalternativeexplanationfor

thelackofassociationsbetweensocioeconomicstatus,groupsize andchild-staffratioaswellasanegativeeffectofmother’sincome onstaffeducationcanbeincorrectreportingonthenumberofstaff, number ofchildren and staffeducationthatweresubsequently used todefinethesevariables. Although,a negativeassociation betweenhighmaternalincomeandstaffwithpreschooleducation wasconfirmedwiththeregistrydata.

Wealsofoundthatsomeofthepotentiallyobservablestruc- turalqualityattributesthatwererelatedtohigherSES,particularly developmentalmaterial,staffcompetenceandstaffstability,pre- dictedhigherrelationshipquality.Thisappearstoprovidesome supporttoourearlierargumentthatparentsofhigherSESmay select ECEC based onthe structural quality indicators that are expectedtopromotehigherrelationshipquality.

Largergroupswereassociatedwithalowerdegreeofstudent- teacher closeness. Associations between structural quality at classroom(e.g.,groupsize,child-staffratio)andstafflevel(e.g.,pre- servicequalifications)andprocessqualityaregenerallysupported intheliterature,thoughwithsomeinconsistencies.Thismightbe attributedtolimitedvariationwithincountriesduetoregulation ofstructuralfeatures,differencesinmethodologiesandstatistical techniques(Slot,2018).MorespecificallyregardingSTR,groupsize hasbeenfoundtomoderatetheeffectsofstudent-teacherclose- nessonchildren’sbehaviorproblemssuggestingabeneficialeffect ofsmallergroups(Skalická,Belsky,Stenseng,&Wichstrøm,2015).

4.1. Limitations

Someofthelimitationsofthisstudyarerelatedtogenerallim- itationsofsurveydesignsthattendtosufferfromselectionand non-responsebias,recallbiasandmeasurementerrors.Therewas some degreeofselection into MoBathatseemed tobeexacer- batedbynon-responseontheECECquestionnaire.Someauthors (Gustavson,vonSoest,Karevold,&Røysamb,2012;Nilsenetal., 2009)arguedthattheestimatesofassociationsarenotaffected byself-selectionandattritionratesandthatthereishighpoten- tialtopreventbiasbyincludingindividualswithextremescores (Gustavson,Røysamb,&Borren,2019).However,a recentstudy by Biele et al. (2019)concluded that self-selection and loss to follow-upmaystillresultinbiasedestimatesoftheassociations.

Theconsequencesforourselectivesamplearethatweprobably underestimatetheeffectsofSESonselectionintoECECquality,as highereducated,non-single,nativespeakingparentswereoverrep- resented.OurreportedmeasuresofqualityandparentalSESmay alsocontainmeasurementerrorsastheserelyonECECteachers’

memory(recallingofinformation)andjudgmentwhenreporting quality.Whiletheerrortermshouldaccountforpotentialerrorsin thedependentvariable(ECECquality),theindependentvariables (educationandincome)couldintroducebiasintheestimationsin thewaythatwedonotfindeffectsofincome/educationonECEC quality.Moreover,theanalysisofDAGsandtheminimalsufficient adjustmentforconfoundersstillreliesontheresearchers’judg- mentandavailabilityofdataandthereforedoesn’teliminatethe possibilityofomittedvariablesbias.

EventhoughweaccountforclusteringofchildrenwithinECEC inthesubgroupanalysistherebyallowingfortheintraclustercor- relationor non-independence,wewere notabletoaccountfor potentialclusteringwithinaclassroomduetothelackofinforma- tiononwhichclassroomschildrenattended.However,thisshould notbeasubstantialconcernasmanychildrenparticipatinginMoBa aredispersedacrossdifferentECECcenters.

Inaddition,theobservedassociationsbetweenthestructural andrelationshipqualitymayreflectasharedvarianceinteachers’

reporting.TherewerenocorrespondingregistrydataforECECto provideadditionalsupportfortheseassociations.Therefore,one shouldbecarefulaboutinterpretingtheresultsasstrongevidence

that parents can successfully use observable structural quality attributestoexpecthigherrelationshipqualityorasanindication thattargetingstructuralqualityaspects,wherewefoundsignifi- cantassociations,willimproverelationshipquality.

Itshouldalsobementionedthatourmeasuresofqualityand modelingofpotentialparentalselectiontakesaresearcher per- spective.Thismightbeanoversimplificationofthecomplexreality whereparentsfacenumeroustrade-offsandconstraints.Wedonot haveanopportunitytogetinsightintotherealparentaldecision- makingprocesses whenlookingfor ECEC,perceptionof quality andvaluesparentsattachtodifferentaspects.Eventhoughparents seemtoagreeontheimportanceofqualityattributesinthepro- fessionallyrecognizedECECqualitymeasures(Cryeretal.,2002;

Mocan,2007),there isevidenceofsubstantialinformation gaps betweenprofessionalsandparents(Camehletal.,2018).Inaddi- tion,itwouldbeinterestingtoknowifparentsinthestudyreceived theirfirstchoiceECECcenter,asthiswouldsaysomethingmore aboutparentalabilitytochoose,butthisinformationwasnotavail- able.Moreover,whilewe arguethatsomequalityisdifficultto observeforparentspriortoselectionofECEC,bothstructuraland relationshipquality,would,atleasttosomedegree,beobservable toparentsoncetheirchildisenrolledinacenter.Thismeansthat parentscouldchangethecenterafterobservingalowerquality.We accountforchangeintheanalysis,butaswedonothavecompara- blelongitudinaldataonqualitybeforeandafterthechangeofchild care,wearenotabletoexaminewhetherthechangeofECECcen- tersinourstudysamplecouldbetheresultofchildren’sexperience ofpoorstructuralorrelationshipquality.Furthermore,itcanbe arguedthatstudent-teacherrelationshipfromtheteacher’spoint ofviewisaproblematicwaytoconceptualizerelationshipquality, asthismeasureischild-specific.Wehavecontrolledforchild-level characteristicsthatmayaffecttherelationshipqualitytoaddress thisconcern.Itisalsopossiblethatteachersreportlesscloseness andmoreconflictwithchildrenfromlowerSESbackgroundscom- paredtothosefromhigh.Whileonecouldpotentiallystrengthen themeasurementbylookingattheaggregatedreportforallchil- drenbyteacher,wearenotabletoexamineitaswedonothave informationonteachersthatansweredthequestionnaire.More- over,consideringthatchildrenaredispersedacrossdifferentECEC, itislikelythatinmanycasesthereisonlyonechildperreporting teacher.

ObservedsocioeconomicdifferencesinECECqualitymayalso reflectotherpreferences(e.g.,ECECproximity)andregionaldiffer- encesdefiningparentalopportunitiesandconstraints(e.g.,supply andqualityofECEC,socialnetworkasthesourceofinformation thatcanbestratifiedbylocation).Ahighconcentrationoffamilies withhigh/lowSESinsomeareasmayalsoaffectECECquality.Yet, evenaftercontrollingformunicipality-levelfactorsinthesensitiv- ityanalyseswefoundindicationsthathigherSESpredictedhigher structuralquality in terms of developmentalmaterial and staff stability.Similarly,inanearlierNorwegianstudy(Eliassenetal., 2018)highparentaleducationwasassociatedwithhigherqual- ityinECECevenaftercontrollingformunicipality.Alternatively, theobservedsocioeconomicdifferencesmayreflectpreferencesfor otherunobservablefactors,thatcorrelatewiththeanalyzedquality characteristics,suchassocioeconomicandethnicalcompositionof childreninthegroup(e.g.,BeckerandSchober,2017;Stahletal., 2018;Torquati,Raikes,Huddleston-Casas,Bovaird,&Harris,2011) orpracticalconsiderationssuchastransportation,thatmightbe moreimportanttolowerSESparentsduetomorelimitedresources.

Theseabovediscussedaspectscanbeimportantmediatingmech- anismsoftheobservedassociations.Finally,eveninthecontext whereparentalapplicationsforaplaceinECECareadministeredby themunicipalities,therebylimitingpotentialselectionbyproviders andparentalinfluences,wecannotcompletelyruleoutthepossi- bilitythatparentsofhigherSESmayhavesomeinfluenceonthe

process.Onepotentialloopholeisthatprivateprovidershavetheir ownregulationsregardingadmissionpriorities,inadditiontothose definedbythelawforallECECcenters.

4.2. Policyimplicationsanddirectionsforfutureresearch

Inspiteoftheabove-mentionedlimitations,thisstudyprovides animportantinsightontheequityintheaccesstohighqualityECEC intheuniversalcontext,andinparticularlycastlightontheaccess bychildrenfromlessadvantageoussocioeconomicbackgrounds.

Theevidencethatchildrenfromlessadvantageousbackgrounds, thatcouldbenefitmostfromhighqualityECEC,appeartoexpe- rience ECEC of lower quality, at least on some dimensions, is alarming.Asdiscussed,highqualityECECprovidesanimportant foundationforchilddevelopmentwithpositiveshort-andlong- termeffectsforchildren’scognitive,languageandsocioemotional development.Potential consequences oftheobserved socioeco- nomicinequalitiesintheaccesstohighqualityECECarereduced opportunitiesfordisadvantagedchildren,increasedsocioeconomic inequalitiesinthesocietyandeconomicinefficienciesbecauseof suboptimalreturnonpublicinvestmentinECEC.VariationsinECEC qualityandevidenceofpossibleselectionmayposechallengesfor theuniversalsystemthatisintendedtoprovidehomogeneoushigh qualityECECservicesforallchildren.Whileonepotentialeffective waytoreduceinequitiesintheuseofhigherqualityECECmight beimprovingparentalknowledgeandinformation,moreresearch is needed toconfirm ourfindings acrossdifferentsamplesand methodologicalapproachesaswellastoimprovetheunderstand- ingofparentalpreferences,informationandselectionprocessof ECEC.Infutureresearch,itwouldbeimportanttostudyhowthese qualitycharacteristicsforwhichweobservedsocioeconomicdis- paritiesinfluencedifferentaspectsofchildren’sdevelopmentand well-being. Furthermore,future studiesexploringselection into ECECofhigherqualityshouldincludeabroaderrangeofstructural qualityindicatorsbasedonregistrydataaswellasdifferentaspects ofprocessquality.

5. Conclusion

Wefoundindicationsofadvantageoussocioeconomicselection intoECECofhigherqualityinthecontextofuniversalaccessin Norway.Higherparentaleducation,andtoalesserdegreeincome, predictedchildattendanceofECECwithhigherstructuralqualityas

ratedbyECECteachers.Further,higherparentalSESandstructural quality(i.e.,developmentalmaterial,higherstaffcompetenceand stability)predictedbetterstudent-teacherrelationshipqualityin termsofhigherlevelofclosenessandlessconflict.Thesefindings suggestthatambitionsof universalequal accesstohighquality ECECarenotentirelyrealizedandmoreeffortsareneededtoensure higherstructuralqualityinECECandenhancerelationshipquality forchildrenfromlessadvantageoussocioeconomicbackgrounds.

Funding

This study was funded by the Research Council of Norway [grantnumber273707].HenrikDaaeZachrisson’scontributionwas supportedbyfundingfromtheEuropeanResearchCouncilConsol- idatorGrantERC-CoG-2018EQOP[grantnumber818425].

Declarationsofinterest None.

CRediTauthorshipcontributionstatement

NinaAlexandersen:Conceptualization,Methodology,Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Visualization. Henrik Daae Zachrisson: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - review

&editing. Tiril Wilhelmsen: Writing - review &editing. Mari VaageWang:Fundingacquisition,Projectadministration,Writing -review &editing.Ragnhild EekBrandlistuen:Conceptualiza- tion,Methodology,Writing-review&editing,Supervision,Funding acquisition.

Acknowledgments

ThestudyisbasedondatafromtheNorwegianMother,Father and Child Cohort Study supported by the Norwegian Ministry ofHealth and CareServices andthe Ministryof Education and Research. We are grateful to all the participating families in Norwaywhotakepartinthis on-goingcohort study.We thank theanonymousreviewersfor theirconstructive comments and suggestions.

AppendixA. Sensitivityanalyses