The author is the Princess of Wales
This year, I’m launching a huge new campaign, Shaping Us, to increase understanding of the importance of childhood and the impact it has on shaping the rest of our lives. Now we need to work on our interest and passion for this so that we can take real action.
Earlier this week, I created the Business for Early Childhood Taskforce to discuss how we can work together to change the way we all view and prioritize young children. This is not only for the benefit of the community now, but for all of us in the years to come. The task force is creating a bridge between the scientific community – whose evidence clearly makes the case for prioritizing young children – and the business community. Businesses must play an important role in changing attitudes, both within their own organizations and in their networks of suppliers, customers and the wider community.
The science shows that from conception to the age of five, our brains develop faster than at any other age. The way we develop, through our experiences, relationships and environment at a very young age, lays the scaffolding as we grow into adulthood. And it is specifically our social and emotional development during this time – learning how to express and manage our emotions and respond to the needs of others – that underpins the attributes that are key to success in the workplace. Resilience, flexibility, the ability to manage stress and stay motivated in the face of challenges are all shaped by the foundations we build as children.
However, not enough emphasis is placed on social and emotional development or on building an environment that nurtures these skills, during childhood and beyond. Parental well-being is the single biggest factor in determining a child’s well-being, and we know that being a parent puts additional pressure on mental health. Nearly 75 percent of people find parenting a five-year-old stressful.
We also know that parents make up a significant part of the UK workforce – 76 per cent of mothers and 92 per cent of fathers with children are in work. We must recognize the challenges for many of these parents, and other caregivers, in balancing a successful work life with a happy home life during their children’s formative years. Employers play an important role in making that possible.
Of course, there are many others in the workforce who play important roles in children’s lives – grandparents, friends, community volunteers. As they say, “it takes a village”.
I believe we need to do two things. The first is to prioritize creating work environments that provide the support people need to cultivate and maintain their own social and emotional well-being. The second is a greater focus on the social and emotional development of the youngest children.
The environmental, social and governance framework – or ESG – is now recognized and supported by businesses. Considerable progress has been made in relatively short years on the environmental and governance parts of the framework, but the “social” aspect is not discussed openly or measured and reported in the same way.
So, over the coming months, the task force will look at opportunities to put the early years at the heart of delivering a “social” element. When great work is done by individual businesses, with more coordination between business and commerce, our influence can be far-reaching.
As the world becomes increasingly complex, we must invest in early childhood now, as a down payment for our shared future. If business and commerce address these pressing issues – including how a better childhood will affect our own organizations now and in the long term – we can and will transform lives for generations to come.