Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the level of between and within country inequalities in early childhood development using all available DHS/MICS surveys. The paper shows what countries and groups are the most disadvantaged and what dimensions of early development is the most affected by inequalities.

Paper long abstract:

Using data from 60 countries covering 25% of the under 5 population of developing countries, we compute the early child development index (ECDI) for all countries and socio-economic groups within countries. We present level of inequalities between and within countries for the ECDI and its 4 sub-components. We also present level of inequalities in inputs such as participation to early education programs, child's health, learning tools and parental involvement. We show that wealth related inequalities are large, notably in early literacy and numeracy.

Then, we explore transmission channels that explain how poverty affects the poorest children using a global compiled dataset of more than 200,000 children aged 3 and 4. We show that access to early education, books, parental education and child health are important factors explaining early childhood development but large differences between rich and poor children remain even after controlling by these factors. We discuss implications and develop policy recommendations.