Early years experience and longer-term child development: Research and implications for policymaking

Why should we focus on the early years? One reason is the accumulation of evidence that indicates that the child's experience in the early years has profound consequences for later life. There are now many studies that present a consistent picture indicating that adversity in early life, such as frequently accompanies child poverty, is linked to: poor adult mental and physical health , adult mortality, anti-social and criminal behaviour, substance abuse and poor literacy and academic achievement.