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Investing in the early years is one of the smartest things a country can do to eliminate extreme poverty, boost shared prosperity, and create the human capital needed for economies to diversify and grow. Early childhood experiences have a profound impact on brain development – affecting learning, health, behavior, and, ultimately, productivity and income. 

Yet today, millions of young children are not reaching their full potential because of inadequate nutrition, lack of early stimulation, learning, and nurturing care, and exposure to stress adversely affecting their development.

The challenge is substantial:  

  • In low- and middle-income countries across the world,  are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential because of poverty and stunting (or low height for age).  
  • Worldwide,  have access to pre-primary education. In low-income countries, just one-in-five children has access to preschool.  
  • , exposing them to the kind of stress that can undermine their development.
  • Around the world, over  below primary-school-entry age – or nearly 350 million children – need childcare, but do not have access to it.

in the physical, cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional development of young children – from before birth until they transition to primary school – are critical to put them on the path to greater prosperity, and to help countries be more productive and compete more successfully in a rapidly changing global economy.

A large body of evidence confirms that if we invest in high-quality programs that support children’s health, nutrition, and early learning, we can improve learning outcomes, and ultimately increase adult wages and productivity.

Last Updated: Apr 05, 2024

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Experts

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Global Co-Lead for Early Childhood Development

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Global Co-Lead for Early Childhood Development

Additional Resources

Contacts

Dani Clark
Communications Lead, Education