Health and Wellbeing in Childhood

The chapter begins by looking at social inequality, particularly in relation to health and wellbeing. Despite huge improvements in the available resources (think for a moment about the early childhood experiences of your grandparents or parents, who may have grown up before antibiotics were available), internationally we are seeing significant declines in population health and wellbeing, and increasingly larger gaps between the rich and the poor in countries all around the world. The chapter explores how governments are attempting to address social inequality. While early childhood educators are rarely involved at the level of policy, and although it is very important that we advocate at this level, it is necessary to understand how the policy context influences our work. The chapter concludes with practical suggestions for how early childhood educators can contribute to addressing the problem of social inequality.