Early child development transformational change programme

Why we are doing this

We know that what children experience during their early years and parents’ capacity to provide nurturing care lays lifelong foundations for health and life skills. We already invest in a range of evidence-based services and resources to support families and child development from pre-birth.

We are acting to address the increasing numbers of developmental concerns. As a priority, we need to tackle the inequalities in developmental concerns at 27-30 months, as children in our poorest areas are more likely to have concerns than those in more affluent areas.

(Early child development statistics - Scotland 2021 to 2022 - Early child development – Publications - Public Health Scotland)

These inequalities often last throughout people’s lives resulting in poorer overall health, worse educational outcomes, more involvement in the criminal justice system, and less participation in the economy and therefore more chance of being in poverty than if we got it right from the start.

These outcomes affect not only individuals but also public expenditure on the repercussions of systems that don’t provide the support that families need, and therefore our overall success as a society.