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Ideas and action that advance the early years

Editor’s pick
  • Health & Wellbeing

Traditional midwifery is finally protected by law in Mexico

Recognising the value and significance of Indigenous medicine in prenatal care

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  • Health & Wellbeing

Real-world insights into becoming a parent while working in healthcare

Learning how to care for employees at Amsterdam University Medical Centre

Editor’s pick
  • Health & Wellbeing

The World Cup of Healing

Transforming maternal health through football and its six billion fans

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  • Environment & Cities

The London nurseries building family-neighbourhood connections

Trusting relationships with parents help children grow and learn

Our latest journal

The Wellbeing Issue: Part III

What if our most advanced problem-solving system has been with us all along? Parents.

In a rapidly changing world full of uncertainty, parents are pros at responding to constant change. They are the most resourceful people on the planet, finding new ways to cope and care.

But this transition to parenthood is chronically undersupported. Like any critical infrastructure, we need to invest in parents, especially as the pace of change moves faster than existing support.

That’s why Early Childhood Matters 2026, “Parenthood in a Changing World”, continues to focus on parental wellbeing. Bringing together perspectives from scientists, economists, artists, innovators, and leaders across government and civil society, the case for investing in parents is beautifully obvious.

Explore now

Featured stories

Editor’s pick
  • Parenthood & Caregiving

Why Africa could lead a wave of care innovation

A journey of caregiving from Lagos to Florida fuels my vision

Spotlight
  • Parenthood & Caregiving

“I built my own AI model specifically to help me parent my son”

Every new technology brings controversy and concern about how it might impact on children’s development

  • Health & Wellbeing

Who nourishes the mother?

My mission to nurture families through healthy meals across Brazil

  • Environment & Cities

How pregnancy rewired my relationship with nature

From a mother’s ritual to a child’s inheritance: the power of everyday green

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Discover collections

Our collections bring together ideas and voices on child development and parent wellbeing across past journals to spark curiosity and collaborative thinking.

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New to Early Childhood Matters?

8 stories
Our most popular articles and interviews with leaders have ignited new conversations and led to change for the early years.
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Thomas and Paula with their 2 sons; newborn Milo and 5 year old Boris.

How caregiving shapes leadership

8 stories
The experience of becoming a parent or caring for a child can transform our worldview and purpose. These leaders share their own stories with the hope of inspiring others.
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8 stories

What happens when we become a parent

The latest science and evidence on a window of human development that we are only beginning to understand.
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  • Health & Wellbeing
  • Parenthood & Caregiving

Pregnancy changes women’s brains profoundly

Neuroscience completely overlooked motherhood but now that’s changing

By Susana Carmona

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Spotlight
  • Parenthood & Caregiving

Biological changes help men prepare for fatherhood

Male care is part of how and why humans thrived as a species

  • Parenthood & Caregiving

“Dad brain” is real

New research tells us about patrescence and what fathers need

Editor’s pick
  • Health & Wellbeing

Parenting begins in pregnancy

A science explainer on why we need a two-generation approach to wellbeing

  • Health & Wellbeing

“Love really protects you, the parent and the baby”

Interview with Ruth Feldman, Founder of the Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience at Reichman University

  • Parenthood & Caregiving

Protecting children begins with healing parents

Child–Parent Psychotherapy helps caregivers move from fear to love

  • Parenthood & Caregiving

Becoming a parent changes our brains

Embracing "matrescence" can reshape how we care for caregivers

  • Parenthood & Caregiving

“I wanted to understand the evolution of man-the-nurturer”

Interview with Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Author of Father Time: A Natural History of Men and Babies

  • Health & Wellbeing

“The more we give ourselves, the more we have to give others”

Interview with Kristin Neff, Author of Self-compassion: The proven power of being kind to yourself

  • Policy & Practice

“Growing inequality is worsening the parenting gap”

Interview with Fabrizio Zilibotti, Co-author of Love, Money & Parenting: How Economics Explains the Way We Raise Our Kids

  • Health & Wellbeing

Singing lullabies soothes stress in parents

What if every family could create an original lullaby?

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Photo of contributor Maya Mailer
Co-Director, Our Kids' Climate and Co-Founder, Mothers Rise Up
Arts & Civil society
UK
Photo of contributor Ian Mostert
Project Leader, Institute for Nature Education
Civil society & Health
Netherlands
Photo of contributor Abigail Leonard
Author of Four Mothers: A Year in Motherhood Around the World
Media
USA
Photo of contributor OluTimehin Kukoyi
Development Communications Professional
Cities & Civil society
Nigeria
Photo of contributor Anduena Alushaj
ECD Programme Manager, Centro per la Salute del Bambino
Civil society & Education
Italy
Photo of contributor Saugato Datta
Co-Founder, Venn Advisors; Former Managing Director at ideas42
Academia & Government
USA
Photo of contributor Aisha K. Yousafzai
Professor of Child Development and Health
Academia
USA
Photo of contributor Sam Sternin
Behavioural expert, Van Leer Foundation
Civil society & Health
Netherlands
Photo of contributor Nathaniel Foote
President, TruePoint Center
Business & Education
USA
Photo of contributor Hannah Rothschild
Head of Communications, Van Leer Foundation
Early Childhood Matters
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