Early childhood inequalities: the rocky path from observation to action

In this commentary, I discuss three key implications for research and practice that follow from the work of Cattan et al.: (1) the urgent need for a theoretical framework to identify and test the mechanisms that drive early life inequalities; (2) the persistent obstacles to ameliorating early childhood inequality; and (3) the immense value of population cohort studies for understanding socio-histo. [...] Focusing on children’s ages of 3 and 5 years, the authors show that differences in cognitive and socio-emotional development are evident already in early life, and that they are systematically associated with children’s early life environments and their genetic propensities. [...] Akin to the phenomenon of polygenicity from genetics, which means that many genetic factors influence the phenotypic expression of one trait, typically each with small effect size, we might want to think of the findings of Cattan et al. [...] Developmental cascades as theoretical framework The third suggestion is to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework that enables empirical tests of the processes and mechanisms that drive early life inequality in order to identify the best opportunities for intervention. [...] For as long as we hold on to the belief that the ones with more merit are more deserving in society than those without, and that the distribution of resources should adhere to reward claims rather than to support needs, early life childhood inequality will prevail, together with its long-term consequences.