What Do Parents Want in Terms of Early Childhood Education and Care?

In the development of early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy, it is important to understand parents’ decision-making in terms of both preferences and pragmatic constraints. Traditional data collection techniques such as self-reported surveys can elucidate parental preferences, however, these may differ from their actual decisions. In our research we marry qualitative responses about ECEC preferences with the results of a quasi-behavioral conjoint analysis to explore whether there is an association between parents’ stated and revealed preferences. In this study, 631 parents of young children in Toronto answered an open-ended question about ECEC preferences and a choice-based conjoint survey in which they chose between hypothetical providers that varied across ECEC attributes. Research Findings: Pearson’s point bi-serial correlations between stated and revealed preferences found that associations were non-existent or weak. Parent characteristics (ethnicity, education, income and primary language) moderately influenced the strength of these correlations. Our findings suggest that parents may not be able to fully articulate their preferences for ECEC, and that their stated preferences may not match their decisions. Practice or Policy: This study may have important implications for policymakers and researchers, as our findings support the use of complementary methods to collect information about ECEC preferences from stakeholders.