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Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys Data Interpretation, Further Analysis and

Dissemination Workshop

Child Development

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Early Childhood development (ECD): Key Facts

• Early childhood, which spans the period to 8 years of age, is critical to a child’s cognitive, social, emotional and physical development.

• Many challenges faced by adults, such as mental health issues, obesity, heart disease, criminality, and poor literacy and numeracy, can be traced back to early childhood.

• Brain and biological development during the first years of life is highly influenced by an infant’s environment.

• There are simple and effective ways for families and caregivers to ensure optimal child development

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Access to basic services

Home environment

Child development

Conceptual framework for MICS4

Attendance to Early Childhood Education

Early Childhood Development Index

Supportive factors: Support for Learning Learning Materials:

Children’s Books and Playthings

Risk factors: Inadequate care

Conceptual framework for ECD in MICS

Core ECD domains

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Attendance to Early Childhood Education Programme

• Definition: Number of children age 36-59 months who are attending an early childhood education programme / Total number of children age 36-59 months

• Importance: improves child’s literacy and numeracy skills & social and emotional development & Enhances school-related achievements; allows women to enter the workforce; increases family & family and community cohesion; increases GDP and public revenues - opportunity to break the cycle of poverty

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Percentage of children age 36-59 months attending

early childhood education1

Number of children age 36-59 months

Total

SexMaleFemale

RegionRegion 1Region 2Region 3Region 4Region 5

AreaUrbanRural

Age of child36-47 months48-59 months

Mother's educationNonePrimarySecondaryHigher

Wealth index quintilePoorestSecondMiddleFourthRichest

Religion/Language/Ethnicity of household headGroup 1Group 2Group 3

Percentage of children age 36-59 months w ho are attending an organized early childhood education programme, Country, Year

Table CD.1: Early childhood education

1 MICS indicator 6.1 - Attendance to early childhood education

6

7

Children in the poorest households are less likelyto access early childhood education programmes

Burk

ina F

aso

Som

alia

Yem

enBu

rund

iM

aurit

ania

Côte

d'Iv

oire

Bosn

ia an

d He

rzeg

ovina

Lao

PDR

Syria

n Ar

ab R

epub

lic

Cent

ral A

frica

n Re

publi

c

Guinea

-Biss

auTa

jikist

an

TFYR

Mac

edon

iaSi

erra

Leo

neBa

nglad

esh

Togo

Kaza

khst

anKy

rgyz

stan

Uzbe

kista

nGam

biaCa

mer

oon

Mon

tene

gro

Beliz

eNi

geria

Serb

iaM

ongo

liaSu

rinam

eAl

bania

Georg

iaGuy

ana

Ghana

Viet

Nam

Thail

and

Ukra

ine

Trini

dad

and

Toba

goBe

larus

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 Poorest 20% Richest 20% Average

Percentage of children aged 36-59 months that attend some form of early childhood education programme, by household wealth, in the 36 countries where there was a statistically significant difference

Note: This analysis included 36 countries***p ≤ .01 (statistically significant at the 1% level) Source: MICS3

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Support for Learning

• Three indicators: Support for learning among any adult and support for learning among fathers/mothers

• Definitions: - Number of children age 36-59 months with whom an adult / father / mother has engaged in four or more activities to promote learning and school readiness in the past 3 days / Total number of children age 36-59 months

• Importance: Positive stimulation influences child’s ability to acquire cognitive, emotional and social competencies and is associated with decreased behavioral problems later in life

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Biological father

Biological mother

Total

SexMaleFemale

RegionRegion 1 Region 2Region 3Region 4Region 5

AreaUrbanRural

Age36-47 months48-59 months

Mother's educationa

NonePrimarySecondaryHigher

Father's educationNonePrimarySecondaryHigherFather not in the household na na na

Wealth index quintilesPoorestSecondMiddleFourthRichest

Religion/Language/Ethnicity of household headGroup 1Group 2Group 3

Percentage of children w ith w hom biological mothers have engaged in

four or more activities3

Mean number of activities

w ith biological mothers

Number of children age 36-59 months living w ith

their biological mothers

Table CD.2: Support for learningPercentage of children age 36-59 months w ith w hom adult household members engaged in activities that promote learning and school readiness during the last three days, and engagement in such activities by biological fathers and mothers, Country, Year

Percentage of children living with their:

Number of children

age 36-59 months

Number of children age 36-59 months living w ith

their biological fathers

Percentage of children w ith w hom

adult household members have

engaged in four or more activities1

Mean number of activities w ith adult household members

Percentage of children w ith w hom

biological fathers have engaged in

four or more activities2

Mean number of activities

w ith biological fathers

1 MICS indicator 6.2 - Support for learning

a The background characteristic "Mother's education" refers to the education level of the respondent to the Questionnaire for Children Under Five, and covers both mothers and primary caretakers, w ho are interview ed w hen the mother is not listed in the same household. Since indicator 6.4 reports on the biological mother's support for learning, this background characteristic refers to only the educational levels of biological mothers w hen calculated for the indicator in question.

2 MICS Indicator 6.3 - Father’s support for learning3 MICS Indicator 6.4 - Mother’s support for learning

na: not applicable

NewChanged

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Mothers are the households members most likely to engage in early learning activities for children

Lao

PDR

Burk

ina F

aso

Djibo

uti

Yem

enTa

jikist

anTo

goM

aurit

ania

Iraq

Ghana

Côte

d'Iv

oire

Mon

golia

Cam

eroo

nNi

geria

Kyrg

yzst

anVi

et N

amUz

bekis

tan

Syria

n Ar

ab R

epub

licBa

nglad

esh

Alba

nia

TFYR

Mac

edon

iaSo

mali

aSi

erra

Leo

neKa

zakh

stan

Surin

ame

Georg

ia

Bosn

ia an

d He

rzeg

o...

Thail

and

Beliz

eGuy

ana

Serb

iaJa

maic

aBe

larus

Mon

tene

gro

Trini

dad

and

Toba

go

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100Mother Father Other adult household member

Percentage of children aged 0-59 months whose mother, father or other adult household member engaged them in four or more activities to promote learning and school readiness in the past three days, in the 38 countries with available data

Source: MICS 3

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Learning Materials

• Two indicators: availability of children's book and availability of playthings

• Definitions: - Number of children under age 5 who have three or more children’s books / Total number of children under age 5- Number of children under age 5 who play with two or more types of playthings / Total number of children under age 5

• Importance: strong association between availability of books and playthings and cognitive/socio-emotional development

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3 or more children's books1

10 or more children's books

Homemade toys

Toys from a shop/manufactured toys

Household objects/objects found outside

Tw o or more types of playthings2

Total

SexMaleFemale

RegionRegion 1Region 2Region 3Region 4Region 5

AreaUrbanRural

Age0-23 months24-59 months

Mother’s educationNonePrimarySecondaryHigher

Wealth index quintilesPoorestSecondMiddleFourthRichest

Religion/Language/Ethnicity of household headGroup 1Group 2Group 3

Table CD.3: Learning materialsPercentage of children under age 5 by numbers of children's books present in the household, and by playthings that child plays w ith, Country, Year

Percentage of children living in households that have for the child: Number of

children under age 5

1 MICS indicator 6.5 - Availability of children’s books 2 MICS indicator 6.6 - Availability of playthings

Percentage of children w ho play with:

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Children in the richest households are more likelyto have books in the home

Lao P

DR

Côte d'

Ivoire

Togo

Centra

l Afric

an R

epub

lic

Camero

on

Yemen

Sierra

Leon

e

Ghana

Nigeria

Tajikis

tan

Viet N

am

Mongo

lia

Syrian

Arab

Rep

ublic

Albania

Uzbek

istan

Thaila

nd

Surina

me

TFYR Mac

edon

ia

Guyan

aBeli

ze

Kazak

hstan

Bosnia

and H

erzeg

ovina

Georgi

a

Kyrgyz

stan

Monten

egro

Serbia

Trinida

d and

Tobag

o

Ukraine

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100Richest 20% Poorest 20% Average

Percentage of children aged 0-59 months living in households with three or more children’s books, by household wealth, in the 28 countries where there was a statistically significant difference

Note: This analysis included 28 countries***p ≤ .01 (statistically significant at the 1% level)Source: MICS3

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Inadequate care

• Definition: Number of children under age 5 left alone or in the care of another child younger than 10 years of age for more than one hour at least once in the past week / Total number of children under age 5

• Importance: Leaving a young child alone or with another young sibling is associated with:

• Increased risk of harm and injury

• Increased risk of abuse and neglect

• Increased mortality

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Left alone in the past w eek

Left in the care of another child younger than 10 years of age

in the past w eek

Left w ith inadequate care in

the past w eek1

Number of children under age 5

Total

SexMaleFemale

RegionRegion 1Region 2Region 3Region 4Region 5

AreaUrbanRural

Age0-23 months24-59 months

Mother’s educationNonePrimarySecondaryHigher

Wealth index quintilesPoorestSecondMiddleFourthRichest

Religion/Language/Ethnicity of household headGroup 1Group 2Group 3

Percentage of children under age 5 left alone or left in the care of another child younger than 10 years of age for more than one hour at least once during the past w eek, Country, Year

1 MICS indicator 6.7 - Inadequate care

Percentage of children under age 5:

Table CD.4: Inadequate care

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Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI)

• Definition: Number of children age 36-59 months who are developmentally on track in at least three of the following four domains: literacy-numeracy, physical, social-emotional, and learning

• Importance: Provides a snapshot of (or a window into) the child’s developmental status at the time of measurement and can be used to measure outcomes of ECD, nutrition or health interventions

• ECDI needs to be interpreted within the context of other variables available from MICS and other sources

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Early childhood development index (ECDI)

Domain ItemsLiteracy-numeracy

Children are considered “on track” if they can do at least two

EC8. CAN (NAME) IDENTIFY OR NAME AT LEAST TEN LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET?

 EC9. CAN (NAME) READ AT LEAST FOUR SIMPLE,

POPULAR WORDS? EC10. DOES (NAME) KNOW THE NAME AND

RECOGNIZE THE SYMBOL OF ALL NUMBERS FROM 1 TO 10?

 PhysicalChildren are considered “on track” if they can do one or the other

EC11. CAN (NAME) PICK UP A SMALL OBJECT WITH TWO FINGERS, LIKE A STICK OR A ROCK FROM THE GROUND?

EC12. IS (NAME) SOMETIMES TOO SICK TO PLAY?Social-emotionalChildren are considered “on track” if they can do at least two

EC15. DOES (NAME) GET ALONG WELL WITH OTHER CHILDREN?

EC16. DOES (NAME) KICK, BITE, OR HIT OTHER CHILDREN OR ADULTS?

EC17. DOES (NAME) GET DISTRACTED EASILY?LearningChildren are considered “on track” if they can do one or the other

EC13. DOES (NAME) FOLLOW SIMPLE DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO DO SOMETHING CORRECTLY?

EC14. WHEN GIVEN SOMETHING TO DO, IS (NAME) ABLE TO DO IT INDEPENDENTLY?

 

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Literacy-numeracy Physical

Social-Emotional Learning

Total

SexMaleFemale

RegionRegion 1Region 2Region 3Region 4Region 5

AreaUrbanRural

Age36-47 months48-59 months

Attendance to early childhood educationAttendingNot attending

Mother’s educationNonePrimarySecondaryHigher

Wealth index quintilesPoorestSecondMiddleFourthRichest

Religion/Language/Ethnicity of household headGroup 1Group 2Group 3

Table CD.5: Early child development indexPercentage of children age 36-59 months w ho are developmentally on track in literacy-numeracy, physical, social-emotional, and learning domains, and the early child development index score, Country, Year

Percentage of children age 36-59 months who are developmentally on track for indicated domains Early child

development index score1

Number of children age

36-59 months

1 MICS indicator 6.8 - Early child development index

Percentage of children not on track in any of

the four domains

New

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