Economic (in)equality and sustainability: preschool children's views of the economic situation of other children in the world

This study investigated kindergarten children’s knowledge about and views of other children in the world’s economic situation, as well as the kindergarten children’s self-reported sources of this knowledge. 

Most of the children seemed to possess knowledge about the lives and financial situation of other children in the world. Many of them could support their views with one or more relevant ideas or thoughts, and some of them could also argue based on logical reasoning. Parents, the media and everyday observations were listed as the main sources of knowledge, but a few also mentioned that they had learned about it in kindergarten. The researchers argue that more research is required to find out how we can integrate social and economic sustainability into educational kindergarten activities, and how we can engage children in such learning in a meaningful way.  

53 kindergarten children aged 5–6 from 12 Swedish kindergartens were interviewed. The children’s responses were analysed through content analysis and the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcomes Taxonomy model.

Borg, F. (2019). "Economic (in)equality and sustainability: preschool children's views of the economic situation of other children in the world". Early Child Development and Care, 189(8):1256-1270.