Early Years Interventions to address Health Inequalities in London - the Economic Case

The Mayor’s Health Inequalities Strategy sets out an ambitious and long-term commitment to promote effective parenting, early years development and readiness for learning. The Mayor wants to promote evidence-based programmes in family support, early interventions and mainstream delivery in London. In order to meet the first steps of this commitment, GLA Economics have developed an economic case for early years intervention to address health inequalities in London.

This new report demonstrates how early years interventions provide high returns on investment for individuals and society. In other words, it is economically efficient for young Londoners’ future life chances and meets the economic growth needs of London, the region with the highest rates of child poverty.

Its key messages include:

• "Get it right first time" with early years investment and early support to save far more than remedial spending later in life;
• The best international evidence, showing the value of investing in proven, early years intervention programmes for children, remains relevant when translated to UK values;
• Resulting, improved outcomes for children will tackle those deep set health inequalities faced by London’s children and their families.