| Summary: | An early start to ECEC of good quality is assumed to be beneficial, especially for the development and educational outcomes of disadvantaged children. This assumption was tested using the latest two waves of PISA data (2015 and 2018) in five countries characterized by the Nordic model of early education and care (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). The article looks at the association between the starting age for the ECEC and literacy scores at the age of 15, and also examining the heterogeneous effects according to social background. The article finds evidence of the overall benefit of ECEC in all Nordic countries, however, this benefit is largely explained by the association of family background and ECEC enrolment. Contrary to our assumptions and previous research, we did not find that ECEC would generally compensate for a low SES in children's achievement. In contrast, the Matthew effect was observed in Iceland and Norway. It seems that affluent children benefit more from an early ECEC start than disadvantaged children.
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