Why quality care of babies and children is vital for a thriving economy
The first three years of human development, from conception, shape a child’s future out of all proportion to the rest of childhood. Summaries of much of the compelling scientific evidence that confirms this statement can be found at https://www.whataboutthechildren.org.uk in the Research Section. Early life experiences: the environment in the womb; the birth experience; the emotional and physical environment of early care and the wellbeing of their parents all impact, not only on a child’s immediate health and emotional wellbeing but also on their long term physical and mental health long into adulthood. The ability of adults to manage their emotions, make relationships and deal with the warp and weft of life is sown in the first three years of life.
Over the past years of the pandemic social, economic, educational and health inequalities have been brought into sharper focus than ever before. A plethora of reports has detailed the increasing gap in health and opportunity across the UK, such as: Fair society, healthy lives (The Marmot Review) (https://www.local.gov.uk/marmot-review-report-fair-society-healthy-lives); Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On (https://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/marmot-review-10-years-on); Inequalities-in-education-and-attainment-gaps (https://post.parliament.uk/inequalities-in-education-and-attainment-gaps/). This situation of inequalities persists despite the government committing huge sums of public money to a range of initiatives to ‘close the gap’. Whilst these reports may have a range of remits, there is a common theme in their recommendations for government policy: investment in a long term integrated strategy of ‘early intervention’ and ‘prevention’, an approach What About The Children? has been calling for since it was established. Our mission is to ‘Raise awareness of the importance of the emotional wellbeing of the under threes because when a child’s first three years are right it brings huge benefits not just for the child but the whole of society.’ What About The Children?
The Early Action Task Force (EATF) launched in 2010 argued that early intervention and prevention has a “triple dividend – thriving lives, costing less, contributing more” Early Action Task Force - Community Links (community-links.org). Yet despite all the evidence from science, studies of inequalities and political rhetoric to ‘build back better’ and ‘to level up’, in 2022 our public services, health, education, and housing continue to be in a parlous state. There is much public and political ‘handwringing’ about the ever widening division in society, the growing number of children living in poverty, with families in need of Food Banks burgeoning, there is increasing concern about the insufficient number of doctors and associate health professionals, and the childcare system is the second most expensive in OECD, with providers struggling to meet their increasing costs and forced to close.
Lack of funding for public services is a major barrier, but the solution isn’t simply to increase funding on initiatives with short- term headline grabbing targets, especially as this often results in funds for programmes that have long term outcomes to be cut back. The UK is burdened with a national and local electoral cycle that drives short-termism and ‘sound-bite’ politics feed the demand for headlines for our 24-hour media. Political lobbying by ‘single interest groups’ can be unhelpful, taking funding from integrated strategies that over time will bring about sustainable improvement.
The recent Early Action Task Force Report ‘Why don’t we invest in early action – Lessons from Early Action Task Force 2010-2021 (https://www.community-links.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/Why-dont-we-invest-in-early-action-26-July-2022.pdf) explains that reasons are complex and include significant barriers that involve leadership, culture and systems. All three need to be addressed together if lasting improvement is to be achieved. The report’s foreword notes: ‘Britain is stuck in a recurring pattern of underinvestment, with expensive crisis management leading to cutbacks in existing preventative services and social infrastructure, making a bad situation worse.’
We all want to live in a better fairer society, where all babies can thrive, grow up in a healthy safe environment with a secure, loving home and community that provides them with a firm foundation that enables them to achieve their potential. This is an aspiration that needs investment in ‘social infrastructure’.
‘If we want to reduce the scale and the need for public spending, we need a society made up of strong families and thriving communities. We need safer streets, more resilient finances, and to provide the very best start for children.’ Repairing our society: A social justice manifesto for a thriving Britain - The Centre for Social Justice
Nelson Mandela famously said that ‘the true character of society is revealed in how it treats its children.’ Based on the findings of recent ‘post covid reports’ the UK is not doing well by its children. The future Prime Minister, and following the next General Election, would do well to reflect on comments made by the Duchess of Cambridge at the Royal Foundation’s Forum on the Early Years: ‘The science shows that the early years are more pivotal for future health and happiness than any other period in our lifetime, the early years are not simply just about how we raise our children, they are in fact about how we raise the next generation of adults, they are about the society we will become.’