The effect of automatic preschool slot offers on preschool enrolment
Dnr: 248/2024
In the project, we evaluate a reform in Sweden introduced in 2023 that requires municipalities to offer preschool slots to 3–5-year-olds in newly-arrived immigrant families without the parents needing to apply – so-called automatic offers.
Using census data and preschool registers, we study 3–5-year-olds who were not enrolled in preschool in the spring of 2023 (which is when the offers for the autumn were sent out). We then compare the share of these children who enrol in preschool in the fall of 2023 for two groups: children in newly-arrived immigrant families (who received the offer) and other children. This difference in the preschool enrolment rate is compared to the corresponding difference in the preceding years to capture the causal effect of the automatic offers.
The project contributes new knowledge on how to increase preschool enrolment rates and can guide future policies concerned with automatic offers.