Study of Socioeconomic Status Influence on ECD Access in Kwara State

Socioeconomic status significantly shapes children's access to quality early childhood education, and examining this relationship in North Central Nigeria identifies equity dimensions requiring policy attention in Kwara State communities. This study examined the influence of socioeconomic status on early childhood education access among families in Ilorin East, Ilorin West, and Asa Local Government Areas, Kwara State. A cross-sectional survey design was employed with structured household questionnaires administered to 250 families. Socioeconomic status was operationalised through household income, parental education, and occupation classification. ECD access was measured across four dimensions: enrolment status, centre quality tier, distance to nearest ECD centre, and child's weekly attendance rate. Results showed that children from the highest SES tertile households were 4.8 times more likely to be enrolled in an ECD centre than those in the lowest tertile. Higher SES children were almost exclusively enrolled in private centres with better quality ratings. Distance was a greater barrier for lower SES families. The study concludes that socioeconomic inequality substantially stratifies ECD access in Kwara State. Recommendations include government subsidies for low-income family ECD access, community-based ECD centres in lower-income neighbourhoods, conditional cash transfer linkage to ECD enrolment, and quality improvement in government ECD centres to make them an attractive option for all income groups.

Keywords: socioeconomic status, ECD access, Kwara State, educational equity, early childhood