The research, which compares children born in the early 2000s to those born a decade later, reveals little change to gaps in development between the children of high and low-educated mothers, and between children living in more and less deprived areas.
It says this is despite ‘unprecedented’ public investments in the early years over the past 20 years, and evidence that targeted policy interventions – in particular Sure Start – had positive impacts on the poorest families and children.
However, it finds that there have been improvements in some aspects of early home environments, such as the frequency with which parents read to their children, but deteriorations in other aspects of the home environment, such as the rising prevalence of maternal mental health problems.
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