Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/339240 
Year of Publication: 
2026
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 2026:4
Publisher: 
Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU), Uppsala
Abstract: 
The Swedish preschool sector, which is heavily dominated by a female workforce, is marked by low wages and poor health outcomes. Our study shows that preschools' organizational form is significantly associated with hiring practices, wage-setting, and worker health outcomes. For-profit preschools tend to hire younger, less qualified, and less experienced workers, and pay lower wages even after controlling for observable and unobservable worker characteristics. Non-profit providers hire fewer preschool teachers and younger workers, similarly to the for-profits, but on the other hand tend to hire workers with more experience and higher upper secondary school grades. Wages in non-profits are, on average, higher than in for-profit and municipal preschools. Worker health outcomes are better in non-profit and for-profit preschools compared to municipal preschools. Overall, the results suggest that worker composition, wages and health outcomes differ between employer types. Whether these differences matter for preschool quality is a relevant topic for future research.
Subjects: 
preschool workforce
organizational form
private provision
JEL: 
J31
J42
J45
L33
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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