Institutions and Discourses on Childcare for Children Under the Age of Three in a Comparative French-Czech Perspective

The article compares the development of policies pertaining to care for preschool children in
the course of the second half of the 20th century in France and in the Czech Republic. It aims at
identifying the key factors that led to the differentiation of the policies and institutions in the two
countries, especially with respect to support for extra-familial care and formal care institutions
(nurseries). We build on the theories of ‘new’ institutionalisms and we apply framing analysis,
which allows us to understand the formation of ideas that precede policy changes. Specifically, we
discuss the role of expert discourse and the framings of care for young children in the process of
social policy change. We argue that expert knowledge in interaction with the political, economic,
and demographic contexts and how it has been presented in public have had a fundamental impact
on the formation of childcare policies and institutions in the two countries.