Recent authoritative evidence suggests that an estimated 200 million children under five fail to achieve their developmental potential due to factors including poor health and nutrition and the lack of stable high quality care. A significant number of the world's children today lack the basic rights to health, development and protection. In light of such statistics, early childhood services for young children have expanded around the world. The SAGE Handbook of Early Childhood Policy draws critical attention to policy in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) its relationship to service provision and its impact on the lives of children and families. The perspectives of leading academics and researchers from Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Australasia and Asia have been arranged around five key themes:

Introduction: Exploring the landscape of early childhood policy - Linda Miller, Claire Cameron, Carmen Dalli and Nancy BarbourPART 1: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESEARCH, POLICY AND PRACTICE: COUNTRY CASE STUDIESChapter 1: Scientific advice, policy formation and early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the European Union (EU): the intersection of research, policy and practice - Nora MilotayChapter 2: Early Childhood Policies in India: A Historical Analysis - Venita Kaul and Shipra SharmaChapter 3: An incomplete revolution? Changes and challenges within German early childhood education and care policy - Birgit Riedel and Nicole KlinkhammerChapter 4: A Danish perspective on issues in early childhood education and care policy - Jytte Juul JensenChapter 5: The relationship between early childhood and primary education in France and Sweden: a policy focus - Yoshie KagaChapter 6: Early childhood policy in East Asia and the Asia Pacific region, with reference to Myanmar - Lynn AngChapter 7: Implementing Free Early Childhood Education in a Completely Privatized Market: A Case Study of Hong Kong - Hui Li and Jingying WangChapter 8: US Early Childhood Policy: Towards a More Coherent Early Childhood Policy in the US - Jacqueline JonesChapter 9: Documenting early childhood policy in Aotearoa New Zealand: Political and personal stories - Helen MayChapter 10: Chinese Early Childhood Policy - Jennifer ChenChapter 11: Highlights and shadows in ECEC policy in Latin America and the Caribbean - Cynthia Adlerstein & Marcela PardoPART 2: EQUITABLE EARLY CHILDHOOD SERVICES: INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE CHILDREN'S LIFE CHANCESChapter 12: Equitable early childhood services: intervention to improve children's life chances, South Africa - Teresa T. Harris & Nkidi C. PhatudiChapter 13: Scaling-up early learning as a sustainable development priority: A case study of Ethiopia - Martin Woodhead, Jack Rossiter, Andrew Dawes and Alula PankhurstChapter 14: Doing More with Less: Innovations in Early Childhood Development from Low-Resource Contexts - Michelle J. Neuman Chapter 15: What place for 'care' in early childhood policy? - Peter MossChapter 16: Early childhood education and care: poverty and access. Perspectives from England - Eva LloydChapter 17: School Readiness - Christopher P. BrownChapter 18: Educare: A Model for US Early Childhood Services - Diane Horm, Noreen Yazejian, Portia Kennel, and Cynthia D. Stringfellow JacksonPART 3: EXTENDING PRACTICE: THE ROLE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD SERVICES IN FAMILY SUPPORTChapter 19: A Childcare Social Enterprise The London Early Years Foundation Model - June O'SullivanChapter 20: Supporting young HIV-AIDS survivors in family households in rural South Africa, the Isibindi Model - Merle Allsopp, Hloniphile Dlamini, Lucky Jacobs, Seeng Mamabolo & Leon FulcherChapter 21: Children in care in early childhood - Sonia Jackson and Katie HollingworthChapter 22: Community based family support: lessons from Sure Start - Naomi EisenstadtChapter 23: The Role of the Health Sector in Promoting Well-being in Early Childhood - Mary YoungPART 4: PARTICIPATION, RIGHTS AND DIVERSITYChapter 24: Supporting (super)diversity in early childhood settings - Michel VandenbroeckChapter 25: Challenges of Practicing Democracy in Polish Preschools - Katarzyna GawliczChapter 26: Te Kohanga Reo: early childhood education and the politics of language and cultural maintenance - Mere SkerrettChapter 27: Children's Rights and Early Childhood Education - Anne B. SmithChapter 28: The Lives of Refugee Children: A Korean Example - Emily Seulgi Lee and Shin Ji KangSECTION 5: FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD POLICYChapter 29: Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Education and Care - Steve Barnett and Milagros NoresChapter 30: Quality of early childhood education and care for children under three: Sound Foundations - Sandra Mathers and Katharina Ereky-StevensChapter 31: The competent system or the intersection between research, policy making and practice - Jan Peeters and Brecht PelemanChapter 32: The privatization/marketization of ECEC debate: social versus neo liberal models - Christine Woodrow and Frances PressChapter 33: ISSA's Quality Framework for Early Childhood Practices in Services for Children under Three Years Old - An invitation to policy dialogue for building integration and alignment in ECEC systems - Dawn Tankersley, Mihaela Ionescu and Zorica TrikicChapter 34: Role of research in ECD policy - Sharon Lynn Kagan, Rebecca E. Gomez, Jessica L. RothChapter 35: The development of a united ECEC workforce in New Zealand and England: a long, slow and fitful journey - Claire Cameron, Carmen Dalli and Antonia Simon Chapter 36: Conclusion - Carmen Dalli, Nancy Barbour, Claire Cameron and Linda Miller