Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/making-the-case-for-early-childhood-investments-three-arguments/5019908/
“Investing in young children is the responsible thing to do. All children deserve a chance to grow into healthy, educated, and competent people, no matter where and when they were born. . . . Investing in young children is also the smart thing to do. In the short term, early childhood development (ECD) investments translate into considerable cost savings and efficiency gains in the health and education sectors because the children who benefit from ECD services are more likely to be healthy, ready to learn upon entering primary school, stay in school longer, and perform well throughout their schooling. In the long term, ECD investments yield socially well-adjusted and productive adults who contribute to a country’s economic growth and help break the intergenerational cycle of poverty, as demonstrated by higher wages, lower dependence on social assistance programs, greater asset accumulation, and healthier families. These benefits not only level the playing field for children from disadvantaged backgrounds but also make for better, more equitable, and more prosperous societies.”Tamar Manuelyan Atinc, Vice President, The World Bank
With this bold statement, Atinc introduces a World Bank report, Investing in Young Children: An Early Childhood Development Guide for Policy Dialogue and Project Preparation (Washington, DC: World ...