Why Invest in Early Childhood
Care and Development?
Fraser Mustard, a physician and world
renowned advocate for ECD outlines
reasons why investing in the early
years is so critical.
Video: investing in ECD
Population Health
• What is population
health?
Video: Clyde Hertzman
• The long reach of
early childhood
Video: British Birth Cohort
Study
We now know, based on evidence from
neuroscience, genetics, population
studies and more, that early childhood is
considered to be the most important
developmental phase in the human
lifespan.
WHO, 2007
What happens in the
early years strongly
influences how
healthy, how literate,
how well adjusted
and how functional
we are throughout
our lives.
Foundation for the future
ECD improves the
health and well-being
of young children
contributing to more
literate and healthy
populations, better
prepared to grapple
with the complex
issues of today’s
world.
There is plentiful worldwide evidence that
the most disadvantaged children –
whether because of poverty, ethnicity,
gender, rural isolation, or disability –
experience the most dramatic gains from
ECD programs.
Those who need it most get the most out of
it but children who are most vulnerable,
those most exposed to malnutrition and
preventable diseases, are least likely to
be enrolled in any kind of ECD program.
Global Monitoring Report 2007
Mildred Warner,
economist, describes
the economic and
social value of
investing in early child
development programs.
Video: rationale for
investment
Source: Cunha, F., et al. (2005). Interpreting the evidence of life-cycle skill formation
(IZA Discussion Paper Series, Report No. 1575). Bonn, Germany: Institute of the Study of Labour.
Challenges …
Optimal vs. Actual Investment
Example of the U.S
Cumulative Public
Investment
Optimal Investment
Levels
Pre-school
0
Post-school
School
Age
Source: P. Carneiro & J. Heckman, Human Capital Policy, NBER, 2003; Voices for America and the Child and Family Policy
Center, Early Learning Left Out An Examination of Public Investment in Education and Development by Child Age, 2004.
Source: Cooke, M., Keating, D., & McColm, M (n.d.) Early Learning and Care in the City: A new blueprint for Ontario.
Mildred Warner,
compares the ideas
of investments
versus expenditures
in ECD
Video: investment versus
expenditure
Cost effective
It is more costeffective to invest in
the early years than
to compensate for
disadvantage as
children grow older.
High returns
Investment in ECD
yields high economic
and social returns,
offsetting
disadvantage and
inequality, especially
for children from poor
families.
.
Voices for early childhood
care and development
Increasingly leaders,
thinkers, policymakers from many
different backgrounds
understand the vital
importance of
investing in programs
that support families
and young children
Nelson Mandela
“Children are the rock on which our
future will be built - the leaders of our
country for good or ill: which is why
the rich potential in each child must
be developed into the skills and
knowledge that our society needs to
enable it to prosper.”
Stephen Lewis
“Everybody now understands, I
think…that early learning and child care
fused together is the kind of objective
which any civilized society strives for, and
that it becomes an indispensable and vital
dimension of a child’s life, enhancing all of
the family characteristics which shore up
the child, but profoundly influencing in the
most positive imaginable way the
opportunities for the child.”
James Heckman
“As a society, we cannot afford to
postpone investing in children until they
become adults, nor can we wait until they
reach school age – a time when it may be
too late to intervene”
Charlie Coffey
The development of
human capital at an
early age is central to
a thriving economy.
It’s simply a smarter
path to take.
Executive Vice-President, Royal
Bank of Canada.
Advocating
What effective strategies have you
found to advocate for ECD in your
region?
Who might be effective partners for this
advocacy work?