Interest in early years issues such as early childhood education and care (ECEC) and early intervention has increased in recent decades internationally. Partly this reflects interest in facilitating the social and educational development of children, both for deprived children and the general population, and partly interest in increasing parental, particularly maternal, employment. Concern for such issues has led to substantial policy change in the UK in recent decades. For the general population, prior to 1998 there was no statutory obligation for the state to provide any early childhood services for children under the statutory school age of 5 years. However, there were provisions for ‘at risk’ children, as well as in some nursery education for 3- and 4-year olds, typically in more disadvantaged areas, but availability was haphazard around the country. Research evidence and social and political factors have resulted in radical change to the whole early years services system in the UK. The findings of two longitudinal research studies, the national evaluation of Sure Start and the effective provision of pre-school education projects were important factors in policy change and this paper discusses how the interplay of research and policy occurred. Initially changes were introduced by the Labour government, but more recent policy changes have been introduced by the Conservative government. The need for state involvement in early years services has become accepted by all political parties. There is substantially greater government investment in the early years, so that government-funded ECEC is now part of the infrastructure supporting family life for the whole population. This article discusses how research evidence has contributed to the substantial policy change in the last two decades.

中文翻译：

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英国的纵向研究和早期政策制定

在最近几十年来，国际上对早期问题的兴趣日益浓厚，例如早期儿童教育和护理（ECEC）和早期干预。这部分反映了对促进儿童的社会和教育发展的兴趣，包括贫困儿童和普通人群的兴趣，部分反映了对增加父母，特别是孕产妇就业的兴趣。对此类问题的关注已导致近几十年来英国的重大政策变更。对于普通民众，在1998年之前，国家没有法定义务为法定5岁以下的儿童提供任何幼儿服务。但是，对于“处于危险中”的孩子，以及针对3岁和4岁儿童的一些托儿教育（通常在较弱势地区），都有规定，但是在全国范围内都是随便买东西。研究证据以及社会和政治因素导致英国整个早期服务系统发生了根本变化。两项纵向研究的结果，即“确定启动”的国家评估和学前教育项目的有效提供，是政策变化的重要因素，本文讨论了研究与政策之间的相互作用是如何发生的。最初的变化是由工党政府提出的，但是最近的政策变化是由保守党政府提出的。所有政党都接受国家参与早期服务的需要。早期，政府的投资大大增加，因此，政府资助的ECEC现在已成为支持全民家庭生活的基础设施的一部分。本文讨论了过去二十年来研究证据如何为重大的政策变化做出了贡献。