The importance of the early childhood in shaping the rest of our lives and broader societal outcomes has been the topic of the findings the Duchess of Cambridge has studied over the last 9 years. Now the publication of the work is published.
With the help of Ipsos MORI, who released this landmark the research is revealed the opinion of the United Kingdom in the topic.
The impacts of covid-19 on the perceptions and experiences of parents and carers of the under-fives have also been explored.
The Duchess had used many different sources for this research: she has listened to the early years sector and also asked the general public for their own views – with the biggest ever survey of its kind – ‘Big Questions on the Under Five’ survey.
In the research you can find the results of the 5 Big Questions, further qualitative and ethnographic researches, a nationally representative survey and a survey on the impact of covid-19 on families.
Here are the #5BigInsights:
- People believe that a child’s future is not pre-determined at birth and most of them do not understand the importance of the early years.
- Prioritising the wellbeing of parents is hard because of the reality of life.
- A bad situation becomes even worse, when feeling judged by others.
- Parental loneliness dramatically increased during the pandemic. People are also less likely to seek help for how they’re feeling.
- In the pandemic, the support provided by local communities has substantially increased for many people.
The 3 main conclusions of the research are the following:
1. Promoting education and dissemination of evidence on primacy of the early years to the whole society is needed.
2. The need to cultivate and sustain more support networks for parents to enhance their mental health and wellbeing.
3. The task should be to encourage society as a whole be more supportive of parents, carers and families in the early years.