Good reading to accompany this can be found on the
Child Poverty action group website
The children's society website -
end child poverty
& within MP Frank Field's report
preventing poor children becoming poor adults -
background information
Report quote pg7
"By the age of three, a baby’s brain is 80% formed and his or her experiences before then shape the way the brain has grown and developed. That is not to say, of course, it is all over by then, but ability profiles at that age are highly predictive of profiles at school entry. By school age, there are very wide variations in children’s abilities and the evidence is clear that children from poorer backgrounds do worse cognitively and behaviourally than those from more affluent homes.
Schools do not effectively close that gap; children who arrive in the bottom range of ability tend to stay there.
There is a range of services to support parents and children in those early years. But, GPs, midwives, health visitors, hospital services, Children’s Centres and private and voluntary sector nurseries together provide fragmented services that are neither well understood nor easily accessed by all of those who might benefit most."
There is an inclusion on page 22 of this report that mentions the website netmums, Mr Field's presence on the parenting site mumsnet has made me wonder if there has been an error in publication.
Hth xx