Putting early childhood at the heart of the European Child Guarantee

A First Years, First Priority campaign thematic paper.

The Child Guarantee is an opportunity to increase public investment in early childhood development services and support, with both domestic resources and EU funding. It is an opportunity to develop comprehensive, integrated, cross-department policies and strategies that support families and households with very young children in a holistic way, with a specific focus on children under three, who are often neglected in public policy.

Our Recommendations

We Urge EU Member State to:

• Adopt an integrated, multi-sector approach to early childhood, that addresses the needs of very young children and their families with a comprehensive system of services, including parenting and family support.
• Increase public investment in early childhood services and support, including universal access to quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) for children under three.
• Adopt national plans with specific, targeted measures to ensure access to essential services for all young children in need, especially those experiencing discrimination and social exclusion, such as Roma and Traveller children, children
  with disabilities, migrant, refugee and undocumented children, children at risk of entering, or in, alternative care, and those in extreme poverty.

We Urge the European Commission to:

• Adopt a robust monitoring framework to assess progress on the implementation of the Child Guarantee, which includes comparable disaggregated data, and which supports efforts to enhance the availability of disaggregated data on children under three and their families, and their access to services.