In the wake of a deadly incident at a Jerusalem day care center, new data point to wide and troubling gaps in access to supervised early childhood care for children under age 3, sharply divided along socio economic lines.
An analysis by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies shows that children from lower income families are far less likely to be enrolled in supervised frameworks, a disparity that researchers warn deepens social inequality and harms development during the most critical early years.
According to the data, only 53.2% of children up to age 3 from low and middle income communities — classified as socio economic clusters 1 through 5 — are enrolled in supervised care. By contrast, coverage averages 84.5% among children from higher income communities, clusters 6 through 9.
The analysis was conducted by researcher Dana Vaknin Ganel as part of an initiative examining how inequality takes shape in early childhood. It found significant gaps in the availability and use of supervised early education frameworks nationwide.
In lower clusters, which include 306,397 children, about 151,000 are not enrolled in any supervised setting. In higher clusters, which include 174,633 children, roughly 27,000 lack access to supervised care.
“The population in the lower and middle clusters, which accounts for about 64% of all children ages 0 to 3, has lower coverage precisely in frameworks that are critical for reducing social gaps,” Vaknin Ganel said. “Research in Israel and around the world consistently shows that high quality early childhood frameworks reduce inequality. Differences in access only widen social gaps and harm development at the most formative stage of life.”
Vaknin Ganel warned that unequal access is likely to have long term consequences, noting that enrollment in quality early childhood programs is closely linked to later educational achievement.
“The policy challenge is to ensure equal opportunity in access to quality frameworks while addressing the specific needs of families in the lowest socio economic clusters,” she said.
The findings also reveal a counterintuitive trend. Families with higher incomes, who can afford private, unsupervised care such as nannies, are more likely to choose supervised frameworks like day care centers and nurseries.
“This may reflect a perception that supervised frameworks offer higher quality, better value or greater accessibility,” Vaknin Ganel said. “The data show that reliance on supervised frameworks is not serving the most disadvantaged population, but rather households with relatively stable means.”
The gap between the lowest and highest socio economic clusters stands at 31.2 percentage points, underscoring what researchers describe as a clear correlation between economic status and access to supervised care.
The analysis is based on combined data from the Education Ministry, the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry and the Interior Ministry, as well as information from the Public Knowledge Workshop’s early childhood mapping project.
The 2026 data examine 10,777 supervised frameworks nationwide, providing 264,106 places for a total population of 481,026 children. Data were collected from 253 local authorities. The highest socio economic cluster, cluster 10, was excluded due to a very small number of births.
Capacity estimates were calculated using a balanced methodology: about 4,500 frameworks provided original capacity figures, while the remainder were estimated based on similar framework characteristics.
Vaknin Ganel recommended significantly expanding infrastructure in clusters 1 and 2, particularly in local authorities with the largest gaps. She also called for additional research into demand patterns, alternative care models and family preferences in lower income communities.
In addition, she urged the creation of a national monitoring system to improve the systematic collection of data on early childhood framework coverage by socio economic cluster.