Early childhood education and care: documentation of statistics
17.12.2024 valid documentation
Basic data of the statistics
Data description
The statistics on early childhood education and care describe participation in early childhood education and care. Early childhood education and care refers to a systematic and goal-oriented activity consisting of upbringing, education and care for children, with special emphasis on pedagogy. Early childhood education and care is based on the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care (540/2018) and the national core curriculum for early childhood education and care. In these statistics, children participating in early childhood education and care mean the children who took part in early childhood education and care in the statistical reference year, and in whose case the decision on the provision of early childhood education and care and the early childhood education and care relationship were in effect on the last day of the year (cross-sectional data on the situation on 31 December). Each child is only included in the total number of children once. The statistics comprise children in early education centres and family day care premises.
Statistical population
In the statistics on early childhood education and care and the database on early childhood education and care (Varda) of the Finnish National Agency for Education, children participating in early childhood education and care mean the children who took part in early childhood education and care in the statistical reference year, and in whose case the decision on the provision of early childhood education and care and the early childhood education and care relationship were in effect on the last day of the year (cross-sectional data on the situation on 31 December). Each child is only included in the total number of children once. If the child has more than one early childhood education and care relationship, the full-time relationship is selected. If the child does not have any full-time early childhood education and care relationship, the early childhood education and care relationship with the highest number of weekly hours is selected. The statistics comprise children in early education centres and family day care premises.
The data contained in the statistics on early childhood education and care are based on the Varda database and the individual-based data retrieved from it. The Varda database contains nationwide data on early childhood education and care. Early childhood education and care actors (municipalities, joint municipal authorities and private providers of early childhood education and care) enter into Varda the data on early childhood education and care actors and establishments, children participating in early childhood education and care and their guardians as well as the details of the early childhood education and care personnel. Varda was introduced in stages between 2019 and 2020. It is maintained by the Finnish National Agency for Education, and the steering of the database is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Provisions on the database are contained in the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care.
The statistics also include the sum-based data on Åland, which are obtained from Statistics and Research Åland (ÅSUB). The data describe the children in early education centres and family day care premises in the cross-sectional situation on 31 December.
Regional data are compiled according to the municipality of the primary establishment of early childhood education and care.
The data represent total data.
The data contained in the statistics on early childhood education and care are based on the Varda database and the individual-based data retrieved from it. The Varda database contains nationwide data on early childhood education and care. Early childhood education and care actors (municipalities, joint municipal authorities and private providers of early childhood education and care) enter into Varda the data on early childhood education and care actors and establishments, children participating in early childhood education and care and their guardians as well as the details of the early childhood education and care personnel. Varda was introduced in stages between 2019 and 2020. It is maintained by the Finnish National Agency for Education, and the steering of the database is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Provisions on the database are contained in the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care.
The statistics also include the sum-based data on Åland, which are obtained from Statistics and Research Åland (ÅSUB). The data describe the children in early education centres and family day care premises in the cross-sectional situation on 31 December.
Regional data are compiled according to the municipality of the primary establishment of early childhood education and care.
The data represent total data.
Statistical unit
A child participating in early childhood education and care is the statistical unit used in the statistics.
Unit of measure
The number of children taking part in early childhood education and care is used as the unit of measure in the statistics.
Reference period
Statistical data on early childhood education and care are published each year for one calendar year. The cross-sectional point (31 December) is used as the reference point.
Reference area
The reference area is the whole of Finland. The data are available for all regional data at the disposal of Statistics Finland.
Sector coverage
The statistics on early childhood education and care contain information on children participating in early childhood education and care. The data represent total data, and they include the details of all children taking part in early childhood education and care.
Time coverage
Statistics are available starting from 2021. The time series for the years before 2021 are based on the data collected by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
Frequency of dissemination
Statistical data on early childhood education and care are published each year for one calendar year. The cross-sectional point (31 December) is used as the reference point.
Concepts
Centre-based early education
An early education centre is an early childhood education and care site where early childhood education and care is provided by employees meeting statutory qualification requirements. Centre-based early education is early childhood education and care provided in an early education centre
Early childhood education and care
Systematic and goal-oriented activity consisting of upbringing, education and care for children, with special emphasis on pedagogy. Early childhood education and care is provided as centre-based early education, family-based day care and open early childhood education and care. Family-based day care can be provided as family-based day care or group family day care.
Early childhood education and care actor
An organisation or person that organises or provides early childhood education and care under the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care. An early childhood education and care actor may be a municipality, a joint municipal authority, a private actor providing a municipality with early childhood education and care on a contractual basis, an early childhood education and care provider accepting service vouchers, a family day care childminder or some other registered early childhood education and care actor operating on a private basis. Using private day care allowance or child home care allowance to hire a childminder in an employment relationship to look after a child at home is not early childhood education and care under the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care and such childminders are not early childhood education and care actors
Early childhood education and care site
A set of premises where a provider of early childhood education and care operates under the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care. An early childhood education and care site may be an early education centre, a set of family day care premises, or a set of group family day care premises located in one address. For example, each of the branches of an early education centre is considered an early education centre.
Family-based day care
Family day care premises are an early childhood education and care site where early childhood education and care is provided by a person meeting statutory qualification requirements and where the number of children present at any one time does not exceed the maximum permitted under the law. In family day care premises, early childhood education and care is the responsibility of one family day care childminder. Family-based day care is early childhood education and care provided in family day care premises
Full-time early childhood education and care
Early childhood education and care where a child is agreed to spend more than five hours a day
Group family day care
Group family day care premises are an early childhood education and care site where early childhood education and care is provided by personnel meeting statutory qualification requirements in premises approved for the purpose where the number of children present at any one time does not exceed the maximum permitted under the law. In group family day care premises, early childhood education and care is the responsibility of at least two family day care childminders or other persons with early childhood education and care qualifications. Group family day care is family-based day care where the children are jointly looked after by two or three family day care childminders
Mode of organising early childhood education and care
Early childhood education and care can be organised by a municipality or a joint municipal authority, purchased by a municipality or a joint municipal authority, based on a service voucher supplied by a municipality or a joint municipal authority, based on private day care allowance, or provided as private early childhood education and care without private day care allowance.
Open early childhood education and care
Early childhood education and care provided as a club activity for children or for children together with an adult. Open early childhood education and care is primarily intended for children that do not take part in part-time or full-time early childhood education and care. Open early childhood education and care includes playgrounds, club and play schemes for children and open early education. There are no statutory qualification requirements for persons working in open early childhood education and care or for the number of employees required for each site.
Origin and background country
During 2012, Statistics Finland has adopted a new origin classification. A similar classification is already used in the other Nordic countries. The origin and background country are determined based on the country of birth data of the person's parents. Using the origin classification it is easy to distinguish between persons born abroad and born in Finland with a foreign background.
Data on persons that died before 1964 have not been entered into the Population Information System of the Population Register Centre. There are nearly 900,000 persons among the Finnish population who have been born in Finland and both parent's country of birth is unknown because the parents of these persons have died before the Population Information System was established. People born in Finland before 1970, whose parents' background is not known, have been concluded to be persons with Finnish background if their native language is a national language (Finnish, Swedish, Sami). All such persons who have at least one parent who was born in Finland are also considered to be persons with Finnish background. The background country for all persons with Finnish background is Finland.
Persons whose both parents or the only known parent have been born abroad are considered to be persons with foreign background. Persons who have been born abroad and whose parents' data are not included in the Population Information System are also considered to be persons with foreign background. Persons born in Finland before 1970, whose native language is a foreign language have been considered to be persons with foreign background, as have persons born in Finland in 1970 or after this, whose parents' data are not included in the Population Information System.
If both parents of a person have been born abroad, the background country is primarily the country of birth of the biological mother. If a person only has knowledge of a father that was born abroad, the background country is the country of birth of the father. If either parent's country of birth is unknown, the background country for persons born abroad is their own country of birth. For persons born in Finland, whose parents' data are unknown and who have been deducted to be with foreign background, the background country is unknown.
For children adopted from abroad, the adoptive parents are regarded as the biological parents. Thus a child adopted from abroad by persons born in Finland is a person with Finnish background and their background country is Finland.
Data on persons that died before 1964 have not been entered into the Population Information System of the Population Register Centre. There are nearly 900,000 persons among the Finnish population who have been born in Finland and both parent's country of birth is unknown because the parents of these persons have died before the Population Information System was established. People born in Finland before 1970, whose parents' background is not known, have been concluded to be persons with Finnish background if their native language is a national language (Finnish, Swedish, Sami). All such persons who have at least one parent who was born in Finland are also considered to be persons with Finnish background. The background country for all persons with Finnish background is Finland.
Persons whose both parents or the only known parent have been born abroad are considered to be persons with foreign background. Persons who have been born abroad and whose parents' data are not included in the Population Information System are also considered to be persons with foreign background. Persons born in Finland before 1970, whose native language is a foreign language have been considered to be persons with foreign background, as have persons born in Finland in 1970 or after this, whose parents' data are not included in the Population Information System.
If both parents of a person have been born abroad, the background country is primarily the country of birth of the biological mother. If a person only has knowledge of a father that was born abroad, the background country is the country of birth of the father. If either parent's country of birth is unknown, the background country for persons born abroad is their own country of birth. For persons born in Finland, whose parents' data are unknown and who have been deducted to be with foreign background, the background country is unknown.
For children adopted from abroad, the adoptive parents are regarded as the biological parents. Thus a child adopted from abroad by persons born in Finland is a person with Finnish background and their background country is Finland.
Part-time early childhood education and care
Early childhood education and care where a child is agreed to spend a maximum of five hours a day
Round the clock daycare
Early childhood education and care which is organised also outside the normal opening hours. The normal opening hours are defined as weekdays (Mon-Fri) between 06.00-18.00.
Type of early childhood education and care
Early childhood education and care is provided as centre-based early education, family-based day care, group family day care or open early childhood education and care
Classifications
Accuracy, reliability and timeliness
Overall accuracy
Inadequacies in the data provided by early childhood education and care actors and errors in the source material affect the quality of the statistics. Errors may arise when actors enter the data in the Varda database, or when the data are collected by Statistics Finland from the database interface.
Timeliness
Statistics on early childhood education and care are published about 11 months after the statistics compilation date (31 December).
Punctuality
There are no delays between the release date given in the release calendar and the actual date of release.
Comparability
Comparability - geographical
Applicable parts of the National Classification of Education 2016, which is based on the UNESCO International Standard Classification of Education 2011 (ISCED 2011), are used in the statistics. The statistics are internationally comparable and cover the whole of Finland. The data contained in the statistics are available with all municipality-based grouping information covering the whole of Finland.
Comparability - over time
The statistics on early childhood education and care have been based on the data obtained from the Varda database since the 2021 statistical reference year. The data are supplemented with the figures for Åland obtained from Statistics and Research Åland (ÅSUB). Until the statistical data for 2020, the statistics on early childhood education and care were published by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). Comparability between individual years is affected by changes in the system of early childhood education and care, classifications and the compiling of statistics.
Coherence - cross domain
The statistics on early childhood education and care are based on the Varda database of the Finnish National Agency for Education. They are prepared in accordance with the same principles as all other educational statistics of Statistics Finland.
Coherence - internal
There are no internal conflicts in the data for each individual statistical year contained in the statistics on early childhood education and care. However, the comparability between individual years is affected by changes in the system of early childhood education and care, classifications and the compiling of statistics.
Source data and data collections
Source data
The data contained in the statistics on early childhood education and care are total data based on administrative registers. The statistics on early childhood education and care are based on the Varda database of the Finnish National Agency for Education and the individual-based data retrieved from it. The Varda database contains nationwide data on early childhood education and care. Early childhood education and care actors (municipalities, joint municipal authorities and private providers of early childhood education and care) enter into Varda the data on early childhood education and care actors and establishments, children participating in early childhood education and care and their guardians as well as the details of the early childhood education and care personnel. Varda was introduced in stages between 2019 and 2020. It is maintained by the Finnish National Agency for Education, and the steering of the database is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Provisions on the database are contained in the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care. The data are supplemented with the figures for Åland obtained from Statistics and Research Åland (ÅSUB). The data on Åland are sum-based. The data represent total data.
Data collection
Under the agreement between Statistics Finland and the Finnish National Agency for Education, Statistics Finland receives the data on children in early childhood education and care as well as the details of early childhood education and care actors, establishments and personnel, from the Varda database through an interface. The data are supplemented with the figures for Åland obtained from Statistics and Research Åland (ÅSUB).
Frequency of data collection
Statistical data on early childhood education and care are collected annually.
Methods
Data compilation
Such matters as missing data, logical errors and data appearing twice are checked from the early education and care data. The data are also compared with the corresponding data for the previous year. All inaccuracies are reported to the Finnish National Agency for Education. It may also be necessary to make corrections in the data included in the statistics. The data are supplemented with classifications and registers.
The data are final after the statistics have been published.
The data are final after the statistics have been published.
Data validation
The data contained in the statistics on early childhood education and care are validated in many stages of the statistical process. During the processing of the data, the high quality of the statistics is ensured by means of several different statistical verification programs as well as by comparing the data with previous comparable statistics and other data sources.
Principles and outlines
Contact organisation
Statistics Finland
Contact organisation unit
Social Statistics
Legal acts and other agreements
The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics.
Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.
Further information: Statistical legislation
Confidentiality - policy
The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed in accordance with the requirements of the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018). The data materials are protected at all stages of processing with the necessary physical and technical solutions. Statistics Finland has compiled detailed directions and instructions for confidential processing of the data. Employees have access only to the data essential for their duties. The premises where unit-level data are processed are not accessible to outsiders. Members of the personnel have signed a pledge of secrecy upon entering the service. Violation of data protection is punishable.
Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
Confidentiality - data treatment
The basic publications follow Statistics Finland’s official guidelines on the protection of tabulated personal data based on the principles of statistical ethics and legislation. Avoiding the publication of statistical data in formats from which individual persons can be identified is the key principle guiding the data protection activities. In other respects, the data on the number of children supplied by early childhood education and care actors are publicly accessible because the activities they organise are financed or supervised by the public authorities (Section 12 of the Statistics Act (280/2004)).
The database tables are more standardised and more specific than the tables used in the statistical releases. Background variables are typically more detailed than those used in the tables contained in the statistical releases. To ensure data protection, the classification was already changed to less detailed at the table design stage; the database tables are not published using the most detailed possible classification variables for data protection reasons. When information service assignments are prepared, the case-specific nature of the assignments and, in particular, the impact of small numbers of observations and (possibly) more precise background variables on data protection must be taken into account. If the data service table contains sensitive variables, rougher classifications are used for other variables (such as for regional data). If it is inconvenient to make the variables less detailed, a threshold rule can be applied.
The database tables are more standardised and more specific than the tables used in the statistical releases. Background variables are typically more detailed than those used in the tables contained in the statistical releases. To ensure data protection, the classification was already changed to less detailed at the table design stage; the database tables are not published using the most detailed possible classification variables for data protection reasons. When information service assignments are prepared, the case-specific nature of the assignments and, in particular, the impact of small numbers of observations and (possibly) more precise background variables on data protection must be taken into account. If the data service table contains sensitive variables, rougher classifications are used for other variables (such as for regional data). If it is inconvenient to make the variables less detailed, a threshold rule can be applied.
Release policy
Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data are public after they have been updated in the web service.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland
Data sharing
The data are used for such purposes as the planning, research and assessment of early childhood education and care as well as for international educational statistics. Data contained in the statistics are reported to UNESCO, the OECD and Eurostat in the UOE education statistics survey and in related separate surveys.
Accessibility and clarity
Statistical data are published as database tables in the StatFin database. The database is the primary publishing site of data, and new data are updated first there. When releasing statistical data, existing database tables can be updated with new data or completely new database tables can be published.
In addition to statistical data published in the StatFin database, a release on the key data is usually published in the web service. If the release contains data concerning several reference periods (e.g. monthly and annual data), a review bringing together these data is published in the web service. Database tables updated at the time of publication are listed both in the release and in the review. In some cases, statistical data can also be published as mere database releases in the StatFin database. No release or review is published in connection with these database releases.
Releases and database tables are published in three languages, in Finnish, Swedish and English. The language versions of releases may have more limited content than in Finnish.
Information about changes in the publication schedules of releases and database tables and about corrections are given as change releases in the web service.
Data revision - policy
Revisions – i.e. improvements in the accuracy of statistical data already published – are a normal feature of statistical production and result in improved quality of statistics. The principle is that statistical data are based on the best available data and information concerning the statistical phenomenon. On the other hand, the revisions are communicated as transparently as possible in advance. Advance communication ensures that the users can prepare for the data revisions.
The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before.
Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data.
Quality assessment
The quality of the statistics on early childhood education and care is assessed at several stages of the statistical process. During the processing of the data, the high quality of the statistics is ensured by means of several different verification programs as well as by comparing the data with previous comparable statistics and other data sources.
Quality assurance
Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The quality management framework of the field of statistics is the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP). The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are also compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Further information: Quality management | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
User access
Data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may only be handled at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics
Unless otherwise separately stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer of the data and the owner of the copyright. The terms of use for statistical data