Understanding Post-Yugoslav Early Childhood Education and Care Policies from a Capability Approach Perspective

Embracing the increasingly common application of the capability approach (Sen, 1999, 1992) to the sector of early childhood education and care, this article analyzes legal provisions and core indicators on childcare outcomes in four countries that once used to belong to one common, social, political and economic core – that of Yugoslavia – in terms of the availability, accessibility, affordability, quality and flexibility of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, dimensions that are considered to be instrumental for parents’ childcare capabilities (Javornik and Yerkes, 2020). The purpose of the article is to understand how and to what extent ECEC policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, and Serbia may enhance or hamper parents’ real opportunities – or capabilities – to choose their preferred mode of childcare. The analysis shows that parents’ childcare capabilities are generally low in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia, especially due to challenges with the availability and accessibility of services. In interaction with personal conversion factors, childcare policies yield high levels of stratification in Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia, and to a lesser extent, Croatia. The comparative analysis thus provides an understanding of the on-the-ground realities, showing how policies play out in practice, and in interaction with other (family) policies and different contextual conditions, yielding multi-dimensional inequalities in parents’ childcare capabilities.