By Ryan Shorthouse, a researcher at the Social Market Foundation.
If we are to improve social mobility, increasing access to high-quality early years education is critical.
The government-commissioned report from MP Frank Field on poverty and life chances recommended shifting investment into services in the foundation years of a child’s life. But I don’t think the recent Spending Review shows the Government is following this advice.
Human capital experts Professors James Heckman and Pedro Carneiro show that the best returns to investment in education are earlier, as skills formation is based on two crucial concepts.
Firstly, early childhood is characterised by rapid brain development, meaning it is more responsive to external stimuli. Secondly, educational attainment improves much more rapidly for those who already have higher levels of attainment, so investment later in life to remedy poor social and cognitive development will be less effective than early investment.
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