The first five years of life are a unique window of opportunity: extensive research confirms the lasting effect of investments during this period on later economic success and well-being, including labor market earnings and risky behaviors in adulthood. This is why early childhood development (ECD) policies have an unparalleled rate of effectiveness to strengthen human capital and reduce inequality from the start.

How Children Develop in Latin America, the Most Unequal Region in the World

Our region is a particularly pertinent context to study how ECD outcomes differ by socio-economic status (SES) and over time, and how high quality ECD services -such as nutrition and health services, along with childcare and psychosocial stimulation programs- could potentially equalize these outcomes to give every child an equal start.

LAC countries exhibit high levels of inequality, with children in poverty facing a significant risk of not receiving what they need to fully develop. Yet important questions remain unanswered: How much do we know about these inequalities? When do they start? Do they close or do they widen with age? What areas of child development are most unequal?

In a new working paper, we study SES gaps and their relation to three key areas of child development: language, cognition, and socio-emotional, using nationally-representative, cross-sectional and longitudinal data from 5 Latin American countries:

• Chile's ELPI survey (Encuesta Longitudinal de Primera Infancia,2010, 2012, 2017), nationally representative of Chilean children.
• Colombia's ELCA survey (Encuesta Longitudinal Colombiana,2010, 2013, 2016), which includes urban areas and rural regions.
• Mexico's Family Life survey (MXFLS, 2002, 2005-2006, 2009-2012), nationally representative at the household level.
• Peru's Young Lives survey (Niños del Milenio,2001, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2015), representative of all children in Peru except the richest decile in the income distribution.
• Uruguay's ENDIS survey (Encuesta de Nutrición, Desarrollo Infantil y Salud,2013, 2016, 2018, 2019), nationally representative of Uruguayan children.

What the Data Tells Usin Early Childhood

There are three main findings in relation to the size, persistence and patterns of inequality in early childhood in the five countries we studied.

• Gaps in ECD are substantial and income inequality really matters

When we compared children from low-income families with those from better off (high-income) households, we found substantial gaps in vocabulary, cognitive and socioemotional development in all countries.

However, the size of these gaps is quite different across countries: countries with higher income inequality (such as Colombia) present larger gaps than less income-unequal countries (like Chile and Uruguay) underscoring the substantial association between income inequality and SES gaps in ECD.

• Many variations can be found across countries and ECD domains

If we look at vocabulary development in Uruguay, we see that the gap between the poorest and wealthiest children is tiny and not really noticeable at the beginning of their lives, but it grows larger with age. Conversely, such gap in Peru is more significant and seems constant regardless of children's age.

Even within a country, the patterns of inequality vary considerably if we analyze different domains of ECD. Chile, for instance, presents quite small vocabulary gaps between the richest and the poorest children, which are also quite stable. The country's gaps in socioemotional skills, in turn, start small and grow quite large for older children.

• ECD gaps persist until children reach adolescence

Worryingly, SES gaps in development are very persistent and manifest up to 12 years after they first emerge, when children reach adolescence. Such a pattern is similar in Uruguay, Chile, Colombia and Peru and all studied domains of development.

Key Policy Approaches

These findings highlight the need for early policy interventions. Addressing poverty is crucial. Yet, additional policy approaches have proven to have positive results. Here we share some of them:

1. Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) programs are a prominent policy response to address inequalities in ECD. Such programs, especially those reaching the poorest households, have shown short-term improvements, particularly in language development. Exposure to CCTs has for instance led to better cognitive development in Honduras, Ecuador, and Nicaragua.
2. Center-based care (childcare and preschool) can decrease inequalities in child development. Preschool expansion (for 4-5 year-olds) has demonstrated positive effects on school performance, children's behavior, and socio-economic outcomes in different countries. Ensuring high-quality childcare (for 0-3-year-olds) is essential, as global studies indicate that positive impacts among vulnerable populations only emerge when quality is high. This requires policymakers to commit to long-term improvements that focus on improving quality of interactions.
3. Home visits to support parenting practices. Some evaluations have shown impacts of home visiting programs resulting in greater household investment in children.

As data shows large and heterogeneous inequalities in ECD associated with income inequality, it is imperative to continue the discussion on how to reduce ECD inequalities, and how to include evidence-based interventions in the governments' policy toolkits to improve developmental outcomes for the most disadvantaged children in society.

Find out more in the publication Inequality in the Early Years in LAC: A Comparative Study of Size, Persistence, and Policies and participate in this conversation by leaving your comments below.

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