privatization

Childcare markets: Do they work?

Publication
Helen Penn
Occasional paper 26
February 15, 2012
24pp
ISBN 978-1-896051-53-6

 

This paper explores some of the conflicting priorities between childcare by for-profit entrepreneurs and non-profit or state systems. The paper considers the limitations of using the market as a workable model for the organisation and delivery of childcare. It presents a brief overview of the reach of economics as a basis for making decisions about childcare, and describes changes in ideas about the application of market principles to traditional welfare contexts.