Submission to Select Committee for International Development:

The Global Crisis in Early Childhood Development

Sophie Mackinder, University of York (sophie.mackinder@york.ac.uk)

Dominic Richardson, Learning for Well-being Institute (Amsterdam)

David Harris, Columbia University (New York) and UNICEF Innocenti (Florence)

John Hudson, University of York

This submission calls for the Committee to investigate the Government’s investment in early childhood development (ECD) in developing contexts.

1) Why should the IDC examine this area?

The 2018 G20 Leaders’ Summit launched the Initiative for Early Childhood Development (ECD) urging strengthened investment in the first 1,000 days of life, with action deemed ‘urgent in low-income and developing countries, and in emergency and protracted crisis situations … where the potential for children’s development could be at risk’. Despite this commitment, and the wealth of global evidence of the importance of ECD, our analysis of 84 countries shows investment in children is ‘Too Little, Too Late’[1] (Fig 1).

Spending on children across countries at income level

$C:\Users\scm526\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Word\Screenshot (82).png$

Source: Richardson et al. (2023). The vertical line reflects investment in USD PPP and the horizontal line indicates the age of the child / young person.

The problem is particularly acute in LICs. In Africa, for example, the youngest children receive a staggeringly low proportion of public spending; just 6.5% of spending on children goes to under-6s (compared to 30% in EU countries), and children aged 0-2 receive just one-tenth the funding of children aged 14.

This under-investment in ECD undermines numerous SDGs (e.g. poverty, hunger, education and gender equality). Failure to address these gaps contributes to rising inequalities both within and between countries.

2) Why is it the right time for the Committee to examine this area?

The costs of inaction are high. Our analysis demonstrates that had the promises made at the 2018 G20 summit been delivered, millions of children would have been lifted out of poverty and millions of mothers would have been able to return to work.

An examination into ECD’s potential as ‘smart spending’ would arrive at a moment when the UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs (UNDESA) has called for all countries to move towards parity in spending for the youngest children, and as other international organizations are increasingly focusing on early childhood.

3) Why would this area benefit from parliamentary scrutiny?

While the UK has signalled support for key initiatives in relation to ECD and poverty reduction, whether these commitments have translated into effective policy change is an important question. Scrutinising how incremental changes to policy could yield an enhanced return on investment of ODA, and how the UK can contribute to the current global discussions surrounding ECD, is timely.

4) Why does the government need to act in this area?

The crisis in ECD and need to restructure development investment to correct the shortfall has been acknowledged and accepted in recent global fora [2]. The UK should provide its full support in both practice and advocacy on the global stage with respect to improved ECD policies and spending, to accelerate global efforts to reach poverty, well-being and gender targets before 2030, and to fulfil the government’s election manifesto commitment ‘to create a world free from poverty on a liveable planet’.

5) How could government policy in this area be improved or developed?

Being part of the movement to lead the eradication of poverty and hunger means being part of the movement to develop and strengthen ECD across the globe; however, these agendas currently are not working together as a coherent strategy. UNDESA have provided recommendations to improve investment in ECD, including taking steps to ensure that the needs of infants and other children under school age are met (through ring-fencing a proportion of ODA), and moving towards spending parity for young children in any allocations dedicated to children. Ensuring UK policies are in-line with these recommendations is a potential area for development.

Additional information

Have you engaged with Parliament before?

DR delivered a talk on Child Well-being in Rich Countries to the APPG on Health and Well-being in Schools (2007).

Do you have personal or field experience related to international development issues?

SM is an academic of international development. DR was Chief of Education Research at UNICEF’s Global Office of Research and Foresight (2015-19) and Chief of Social and Economic Policy Analysis (2019-23).

If you are invited to pitch your idea to the Committee, would you be able to travel to London and back within the same day?

Yes

[1] Richardson, D., Harris, D., Hudson, J., Mackinder, S. (2023) Too Little, Too Late: An assessment of public spending on children by age in 84 countries. Florence: UNICEF Innocenti.

[2] For example, UNICEF and the ILO have called Universal Child Benefits (UCBs) the ‘foundational policy for development’; the UN Department for Social and Economic Affairs (UNDESA) have recommended numerous ECD policies including UCBs; the new Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty (unveiled at the recent G20 in Brazil) has a strong emphasis on early childhood care and education.