Nursery World - Editor's view - More equal than others

England may be a small nation, but it has large amounts of
inequality, as new research from the National Children's Bureau released
today (7 September) shows.

Its report reveals the dramatic variation in the health and development of under-fives depending on where they grow up. Not suprisingly, overall the position is worse for children living in the most deprived areas of the country - in terms of obesity, tooth decay, hospital admissions due to injury and level of development by the end of Reception.

Some areas manage to buck the trend and achieve better than expected results, which could be cause for optimism. The responsibility for public health services for the under-fives is also transferring to local authorities from central Government next month, which could ease change.

However, it is hard not to be pessimistic about the prospects for a more equal society when government policy and local authority funding levels all seem to be moving things in the opposite direction.

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