FRAMING THE FIRST 1000 DAYS OF A CHILD’S LIFE AS A PUBLIC POLICY ISSUE

Abstract

This article aims to reveal evidence-based problems of the first 1000 days of a child’s life and their positioning in Lithuania. The article is based on a narrative literature review. The data were analysed using public policy problem framing approach, restricted to identifying different framings of the problem. The main framings of the problem of the first 1000 days of a child’s life were identified: (1) biomedical (emphasis on influence of environmental factor when considering child’s development, as well as future of his health outcomes); (2) socio-economic (emphasis influence of poverty on child development, returns from early investments in children, the strengthening of future human capital; (3) nurturing care (emphasis the importance of health care, social protection, nutrition, responsive relationships); (4) sustainable development (emphasis the concern of early childhood, the necessity to resolve health, poverty, and environmental issues, and strengthening peace and solidarity). All framings focus on the life course perspective of child’s life and the intergenerational nature of problems. Different fields’ problem-presenting frameworks do not compete with one another but serves as the foundation for a robust policy agenda for early childhood development. Both in science and in the media, Lithuania is dominated by an exclusively biomedical framings of the problem. Although in the Lithuanian education system, early childhood education is defined as pre-school, treated from the birth of the child, but the educational solutions of the first 1000 days of the child’s life are left to the responsibility of the parents. In the social sector, the first 1000 days are more associated with protection against violence after the birth of a child. Preventive health care for pregnant women and children in Lithuania is carried out in an established general guideline, without excluding vulnerable groups and without prioritizing the first 1000 days of a child’s life. Systematic research, advocacy coalitions and the inclusion of the problem on the political agenda are lacking in this field. It is recommended to finance interdisciplinary research on the first 1000 days of a child’s life, to create coalitions and a state program for the first 1000 days of a child’s life in Lithuania.

Keywords

• the first 1000 days
• early childhood development
• policy framing
• public policy;