Every Child Counts

The first 1000 days are critical for optimal child development.  If the child is to realise their full potential and become a loving, socially engaged, well-educated and trained adult, contributing to the national social and economic life of the community, then every effort must be made to ensure that the first 1000 days are the best.

Effective public investment in the first three years of a child’s life is one of the best investments any government can make.  Not only does it protect the child from the damaging effects of poverty but it also produces proven good returns in later years.

Did you know that -

• Children in their first years of life are at their most vulnerable to the long term damaging consequences of deprivation
• Deprivation impacts upon child development through the inability to access needed goods and services; through disruption and stress of family life; and through social alienation
• Effective public investment in the early years of childhood produces measurable improvements in lifetime outcomes for children.
• Resulting reductions in the demand for remedial government services (education, health, criminal justice) and improvements in labour productivity mean that effective public investment in the early years of childhood also represents a sound form of public investment.
• An effective public investment portfolio in New Zealand children will involve some increased spending but more important is the need to establish a sustainable system that ensures continuing and rigorous critical investigation of the effectiveness of investment options.
• Access to affordable early childhood education is a critical form of public investment leading to positive returns from good child outcomes.

Check out what our MPs have been doing for children at What’s hot and what’s not.