Dive Brief:
- A new report from the Washington University School of Medicine reports children with mothers who are nurturing during preschool years have greater growth in brain structures that support learning later on in life.
- The study notes general memory and stress responses for students who had less supportive and nurturing mothers are less advanced then those who have nurturing mothers during their preschool years.
- The hippocampus is the part of the brain that helps children learn, remember things and regulate their emotions; this is the specific area that appears smaller in adolescents with caregivers who are not supportive during preschool.
Dive Insight:
The new study backs previous research that highlights the importance of early childhood education. Pre-K learning has been a growing trend in the United States recently, with many states implementing new programs. Yet disparity exists. Disadvantaged children are less likely to have access to affordable or free early childhood education programs.
In Los Angeles, for example, a lack of access to early childcare education has resulted in persistent intergenerational poverty. The Advancement Project released a report in 2015 that said 2.4% of infants and toddlers and 41.3% of preschool-aged children are able to secure a spot in licensed early childhood education centers in the county, with children of color most disproportionately affected. A typical annual tuition bill in L.A. is around $1200. Across the U.S, 924 early childhood bills were introduced in state legislatures in 2015.