This paper is an examination of the changing structure of preschool services in England between 1977 and 1983. Changes in rates of day-nursery, childminder, and playgroup provision in English local authorities are examined. The results suggest growing disparities in rates of provision between the major conurbations dominated by the ‘New Left’ and the Conservative-dominated shire counties. It is argued that controversy over these recent political developments should not divert attention from longer-term determinants of inequalities in levels of preschool services.
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