Early moments matter: tackling health inequalities in early childhood
Willow and Mum pictured playing at Mini Explorers Daycare Centre, taken on 13 February 2025. Photo credit: UNICEF/Hucker
Dr Philip Goodwin, CEO
| The UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK)
Young children’s health outcomes in the UK are in decline, with many indicators either worsening or stagnating, including widening place-based inequalities
Every child has the right to the best possible health, and the baby and toddler years are the most critical for a child’s health and development. Evidence shows these early moments shape children’s whole lives, with poverty-related health inequalities well-established by the age of five. UNICEF UK analysis found that five-year-olds in the poorest communities are three times more likely to have had teeth removed due to decay than those in wealthier communities.1
Across the country, rates of early childhood obesity, dental decay, mental ill health, and complex disability are rising. Despite this increase in need, children are falling through the gaps of an overstretched health service. At local and national levels, decision makers and health systems are not taking the needs of children into account. The result is exceptionally long waiting times for children, with growing numbers waiting months and years for a first appointment. Over 1 in 4 children (27 per cent) are waiting over a year for community health services, compared to 0.8 per cent of adults.
Too many children are missing out on early support and end up reaching crisis, resulting in preventable harm. A 2.5 year wait for a five-year-old is equivalent to half their lifetime. A lack of support and necessary medical intervention may mean they are unable to develop swallowing, motor or language skills, and participate in early education, socialising and play during this vital time.
Young children rely heavily on NHS services but only receive a small share of its funding. Despite making up 24 per cent of the population, children account for just 11 per cent of health spending in England.2
Infancy and early childhood are a vital time. Unaddressed health problems, or poor experiences during this time, can have lifelong consequences. For young children’s healthy development, timely access to health and preventative services such as developmental checks and vaccinations, is particularly crucial. Almost 1 in 4 young children (24.8 per cent) living in areas with the highest levels of deprivation are not fully vaccinated against MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) – more than twice the rate of children living in areas with the lowest levels of deprivation (11.4 per cent), leaving them more vulnerable to future measles outbreaks.3
Health outcomes in the UK are simply not good enough during early childhood, leaving children frequently unable to access their right to the best possible standards of health and health services. And some of the poorest outcomes are being experienced by children in the most vulnerable of circumstances.
That’s why UNICEF UK is calling on the government to fulfil its promise of creating the healthiest generation of children ever, by:
- urgently addressing children’s waiting times
- rebalancing health investment to meet the needs of children
- improving data collection on young children’s health, ensuring they are disaggregated by age group
- tackling health inequalities so that all children can access their right to good health
With the right support around them, children across the UK can thrive in full health and enjoy their childhoods.
Please join us at Labour Party Conference for our panel event: The Healthiest Generation of Children Ever? How inequality challenges Labour’s manifesto promise, and how we overcome it, with key speaker Dame Diana Johnson MP, Minister for Public Health and Patient Safety.
Time: 11:30 – 12:30 | Date: Tuesday 29 September | Location: Progress Hub
To find out more about UNICEF UK’s work please contact Zhané Edwards, Senior Political Affairs Adviser, [email protected]
References
- UNICEF UK. 2025. Held back from the start: the impact of deprivation on early childhood
- RCPCH. 2024. ’10 Year Health Plan for England: RCPCH organisational response
- UNICEF UK. 2026. Analysis of MHCLG ‘English indices of deprivation 2025’ and UKHSA ‘Vaccination Coverage Statistics for children aged up to 5 years’
