Early childhood development programs areparticularly beneficial to children from disadvantagedbackgrounds. Effective investments in this area have thepotential to reduce inequalities perpetuated by poverty,poor nutrition, and restricted learning opportunities. Thisreport explores the gaps in early education and careexperienced by Roma children between the ages of 3 and 6 inEastern Europe, and looks at measures to close those gaps.Many Roma children lack a strong early learning and caresupport mechanism at home. The vast majority of Romachildren grow up in poverty and many regularly go hungry.Their parents have minimal levels of education. This createsmultiple disadvantages from malnutrition to limited earlylearning stimulation. The report points to four main policymeasures to increase pre-school enrollment and improve earlylearning at home: (1) better inform parents on the benefitsof preschool for children's later life outcomes; (2)promote inclusive pre-schools by reaching out to parents andby involving them more directly in pre-school with the helpof Roma teaching assistants; (3) remove cost barrierspossibly coupled with regular attendance subsidies. Inaddition: (4) support parenting at home. These conclusionsfollow from the finding that the vast majority of Romaparents wish their children to complete secondary education,but that many also stated a desire to raise children at homein their early years when asked why they did not enrolltheir children in preschool. The report also calls forsystematic piloting with variations of different programs,and implementing randomized impact evaluations. Findingsfrom impact evaluations can build public support forscale-up of proven programs. Finally, the report points outthat ensuring that poor Roma and non-Roma children alikereceive an equal start in life by investing in earlychildhood development is essential to break the cycle ofintergenerational poverty and is also smart economics.
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