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International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy

Table 3 Hours of formal ECEC in each of the years before school by different categories of attendance

From: Too late and not enough for some children: early childhood education and care (ECEC) program usage patterns in the years before school in Australia

Hours of formal ECEC per week

Sample n

% 0 h

% 0 < x ≤ 10 h

% 10 < x ≤ 20 h

% 20 < x ≤ 30 h

% >30 h

1 year before school entry

1,224 (1181)

4 (0)

6 (7)

39 (40)

17 (17)

34 (36)

2 years before school entry

1,373 (1119)

22 (0)

15 (19)

25 (32)

18 (23)

20 (26)

3 years before school entry

1,484 (883)

40 (0)

14 (23)

19 (31)

13 (22)

14 (24)

4 years before school entry

1,480 (673)

54 (0)

10 (23)

15 (33)

10 (21)

11 (23)

Average number of hours across the 4 years prior to school entry

1,109 (525)

3a (0)

32 (4)

27 (26)

19 (32)

19 (37)

  1. Population estimates given by sampling weights.
  2. aWhilst these children were enrolled in an ECEC program at point of entry to the study, this included Occasional Care. Main caregivers were asked to identify typical patterns of ECEC attendance used in most weeks of the year only. Some will not have regularly used ECEC programs following recruitment to the study. This number may also include cases of parental error in completing the survey.
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