Duchess of Cambridge calls for early years to be made a ‘societal priority’

The Duchess was speaking at the launch of latest research showing that seven in 10 adults believe the early years should be made “more of a priority” across society in England.

The research by the Royal Foundation’s Centre for Early Childhood, which was launched by the Duchess in 2020, also finds that while 91 per cent of adults say that the early years are important in shaping a person’s future life, just 17 per cent recognise the “unique” importance of ages 0 to five compared with other age brackets.

The research builds on responses to the Royal Foundation’s Five Big Questions on the Under-Fives survey, which received more than 500,000 responses in the first month after its launch two years ago.

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It finds that parents are more likely to seek support for a child's physical health than social and emotional development despite 55 per cent of respondents saying that a person’s future mental health and wellbeing is most likely to be affected by their development in the early years.

The Duchess said the research “presents us with a huge opportunity and demonstrates there is real appetite from the public to bring this issue up all of our agendas”.

“There is more we can all do – every member of society can play a key role, whether that is directly with a child or by investing in the adults around them – the parents, the carers, the early years workforce and more.

“If we come together to raise the importance of early childhood development, we’ll soon see that healthy, happy individuals make for a healthier, happier world. Which is why every second we spend with a child is an investment in our collective future."

Thank you to @KensingtonRoyal and @Earlychildhood for hosting a roundtable today. We discussed their latest research and how government, sector experts and practitioners can raise awareness of the importance of early childhood in shaping lifelong emotional and physical health. pic.twitter.com/PiUWtlgEVh

— Will Quince MP 🇬🇧 (@willquince) June 16, 2022

The research was launched at a roundtable event, hosted by the Duchess, attended by representatives from the early years sector, Health Secretary Sajid Javid, children’s minister Will Quince, and officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education.  

Following the event, Quince wrote on Twitter: “Thank you to @KensingtonRoyal and @Earlychildhood for hosting a roundtable today. We discussed their latest research and how government, sector experts and practitioners can raise awareness of the importance of early childhood in shaping lifelong emotional and physical health.”

The publication of the Royal Foundation’s new research comes just weeks after Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, told delegates at the organisation’s annual conference that “frequent warnings from the sector that it is in crisis continue to fall on deaf ears despite the potentially catastrophic consequences of government inaction.”