Responsive Policymaking and Implementation: From Equality to Equity: A Case Study of the Hong Kong Early Childhood Education and Care System, an analysis of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Hong Kong, is part of an international comparative analysis of ECEC systems in six countries/jurisdictions (Australia, England, Finland, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore). Groundbreaking in intent, scope, and findings, the overall study, entitled Early Advantage: Early Childhood Systems that Lead by Example, tells the story of each system, probing the nature of services provided to young children and their families from the prenatal period through age 8, as well as the jurisdictions’ unique approaches to the burgeoning field of ECEC. In so doing, each country story is unique, revealing, and contributes to the global understanding of promising and innovative policy, practice, and service delivery. This is the story of Hong Kong, one that focuses on the implementation of responsive policies to further support ECEC.

This case study considers Hong Kong’s ECEC policy and services for children from birth to the start of primary school at age 6, as well as the governance and financing of those services. Our analysis of the ECEC system is based on a detailed consideration of government documents, a review of relevant research, and interviews with 12 key stakeholders (e.g., senior government officials, influential community members, heads of service, academics). The intention of this narrative is to present how Hong Kong has systematically enhanced the quality, equitable distribution, and sustainability of services for young children over the last two decades.