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  • The impact of early childho...
    Evans, David K; Jakiela, Pamela; Knauer, Heather A

    Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 2021-May-21, 2021-05-21, 20210521, Volume: 372, Issue: 6544
    Journal Article

    Failure to measure the impacts on women's time and other maternal outcomes implicitly sets their value at zero Over 250 million children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are at risk of failing to meet their developmental potential, primarily because of a lack of adequate nutrition and stimulation in early childhood ( 1 ). Well-designed early childhood development (ECD) interventions can have substantial impacts on children's physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development, as well as their eventual schooling attainment, wages, and other outcomes ( 1 – 3 ). Although the potential indirect effects of interventions on mothers and other household members are generally acknowledged, few studies explicitly quantify outcomes related to labor market activities, health, or well-being of household members other than young children. This may lead policy-makers to overinvest in programs that impose substantial costs on women and to underinvest in those that improve women's well-being. Systematically ignoring impacts on specific subgroups—particularly vulnerable groups such as women in LMICs—risks exacerbating inequalities in the name of evidence-based policy.