Despite growing acknowledgment of the role of early childhood care and education (ECCE) in reducing social inequality, there is limited understanding of the relation between ECCE expansion and inequality in access to ECCE in low- and middle-income countries. This study explored the relation between national enrollment rates in ECCE and inequality in access to ECCE in 30 low- and middle-income countries, using enrollment data among 3- and 4-year-olds (N=303,344) from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey and Demographic and Health Survey collected between 2001 and 2021. We found that higher ECCE enrollment rates were associated with lower inequality in access to ECCE, measured by concentration indices (r = -.31). Among 20 countries with significant increases in ECCE enrollment rate over time, six countries demonstrated a significant reduction in access inequality to ECCE. However, 13 countries did not show substantial changes. In addition, we demonstrated how four factors related to income-related inequality in access to ECCE, such as family wealth, maternal education, gender, and urbanicity, were associated with increases in ECCE use. A review of policies in selected countries provides a more nuanced understanding of the findings. Implications of our findings for ECCE expansion in low- and middle-income countries are discussed.

尽管人们越来越认识到幼儿保育和教育（ECCE）在减少社会不平等方面的作用，但对低收入和中等收入国家幼儿保育和教育的扩大与获得幼儿保育和教育的不平等之间的关系了解有限。本研究利用多指标类集调查中 3 岁和 4 岁儿童的入学数据 (N=303,344)，探讨了 30 个低收入和中等收入国家的全国幼儿保育和教育入学率与获得幼儿保育和教育的不平等之间的关系。以及 2001 年至 2021 年间收集的人口和健康调查。我们发现，幼儿保育和教育入学率越高，获得幼儿保育和教育的机会不平等程度越低，以集中指数衡量（r  = -.31）。随着时间的推移，幼儿保育和教育入学率显着提高的 20 个国家中，有 6 个国家的幼儿保育和教育机会不平等现象显着减少。不过，有13个国家没有出现实质性变化。此外，我们还证明了与收入相关的幼儿保育和教育机会不平等相关的四个因素，如家庭财富、孕产妇教育、性别和城市化，如何与幼儿保育和教育使用的增加相关。对选定国家的政策进行审查可以让我们对调查结果有更细致的了解。讨论了我们的研究结果对低收入和中等收入国家扩大幼儿保育和教育的影响。