To solve Britain’s childhood crisis, politicians have to think long-term | David Brindle

A report says that early intervention is crucial to our children’s futures. But in Westminster, only quick gains seem to matter

Just imagine: “Mr Speaker, it is clear that the developmental issues affecting millions of UK children are so severe, and of such enormous long-term cost to our country, that only a concerted national programme of early intervention will suffice. I propose to make that investment the centrepiece of this budget in the full knowledge that the benefits will be reaped by future governments, not my own.”

No, we did not hear that from Philip Hammond in his budget statement this week. Nor are we likely to hear it from any chancellor, of any political stripe, any time soon. In the UK’s political system, the short term is all. Yet it is increasingly evident that focused, long-term support for children and young people at risk of poor outcomes, such as mental health problems, limited academic attainment or involvement in crime, must be key to tackling what former children’s commissioner for England Sir Al Aynsley-Green describes in a new book as Britain’s “childhood crisis”.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Sw5Md0