Eva Lloyd OBE is Professor of Early Childhood in the School of Education and Communities at the University of East London and Co-Founder and Director of its International Centre for the Study of the Mixed Economy of Childcare. She is also Visiting Professor at University College London. Her research focuses on early childhood policies and systems, particularly marketised systems, and their impact on children growing up with disadvantage. She has provided extensive advice to national and international early childhood policymakers, most recently as a member of an Expert Group developing recommendations on a new funding model for the Irish Republic’s early learning and care system.