Today, while American families increasingly struggle to get by, the political divisions dominating public debate are impeding concerted policy progress to help them. But there is at least one approach that unites people across geographies, demographics, and the political spectrum: supporting very young children and their families.
It’s an approach that works. Indeed, there is a growing body of research across multiple disciplines demonstrating that the foundation for success in life begins during pregnancy and continues through age five, and that investments in early childhood can have a lasting impact. Furthermore, pioneering philanthropies have demonstrated the critical role that private capital plays in building a future where all families can give their children a strong and healthy start.
Some donors have years of experience supporting early childhood initiatives. But what if you are not currently investing in families and children in their earliest years? One of the most striking aspects of such investments is that they often connect with work that donors are already supporting.
Whether your giving has focused on K-12 or postsecondary education, health, economic mobility, gender equity, housing, or on helping a particular region of the country, you will find a compelling rationale for investing in the earliest years in ways that will strengthen your impact. Examining the impact of early childhood investment just through the lenses of health or economic mobility, which are two areas that funders tell us are important to them, is revealing.
The Health Lens
Many of the most critical drivers of health begin well before a child enters school. The foundation for every child’s long-term physical and mental health lies in their development prenatally and during their earliest years; pre-term birth, low birth weight, and impaired development set the stage for chronic disease and mental health challenges. Thus, focusing on maternal and child health — by investing at the local, state, or national level in such areas as prenatal care, postpartum support, maternal mental health, and early developmental screening for infants and toddlers — is a critical lever to pull for donors interested in health more broadly.
Consider what happened in New Jersey, which at the end of the 2010s, ranked a dismal 47th in the nation for maternal mortality, with significant racial disparities in both maternal and infant mortality rates. Enter Nurture NJ, a cross-sector initiative formed in 2019 to improve maternal-child health outcomes in the state. In just a few years, the initiative has helped expand access to evidence-based interventions like home visiting and group prenatal care, bolstered paid family leave, increased the supply and quality of prenatal providers, and created a first-of-its-kind government authority dedicated to the health and well-being of mothers and babies.
While there is still a lot of work to be done, by 2025, New Jersey had moved from near the bottom of the maternal mortality rankings to the middle — ranking 25th — and enacted dozens of laws related to maternal and infant health that promise further progress for families.
Both local and national funders played distinct and important roles in Nurture NJ — building the evidence base, supporting public awareness efforts, funding pilots that paved the way for public investment, and subsidizing the expansion of programs.
The Economic Mobility Lens
In addition, investing in families of young children ensures all have a fair shot at the American dream. Many determinants of economic mobility take shape during the earliest years, including family financial stability, access to high-quality, affordable childcare of parents’ choosing, and early developmental supports.
Research shows that children who have nurturing, high-quality experiences in early childhood are 25% more likely to graduate from high school, four times more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree or higher, and can earn up to 25% more wages as an adult. Those same supports help parents’ long-term financial health, too: childcare, for example, helps with a child’s development and ensures parents can work and earn.
Individual donors or foundations can invest in economic mobility through a range of early childhood efforts. Programs such as the Bridge Project, Magnolia Mother’s Trust, and RxKids provide direct cash payments to expectant and new mothers and their babies. Other initiatives take a two-generation approach, simultaneously supporting both young children and their parents and caregivers (such as the Jeremiah Program for single mothers or Generation Hope for student parents). Community-led initiatives that integrate family supports (like Ready for School, Ready for Life in Guilford County, North Carolina) help stabilize families and mitigate the compounding effects of poverty during early childhood. And philanthropy has supported successful efforts at state and national levels to expand childcare access and affordability, which both helps stabilize families today and drives economic outcomes tomorrow.
Across the country, there is progress to build on and increasing evidence about what works. Funders can play a critical role in helping more families access what they need, build the public will to sustain it, and strengthen the systems young children rely on.
Working together with leaders, organizations, and communities, philanthropy can help build a future where all families can put their children on a path to educational attainment; productive, healthy adulthoods; and upward mobility. Whatever cause or community you care most about, investing in the earliest years is one of the most powerful ways to extend that impact and help build a stronger future for us all.
Katherine (Kat) Kaufmann is a partner at The Bridgespan Group. Maggie Davies is a partner at The Bridgespan Group. Rebecca Brondfield is a principal at The Bridgespan Group.
