As part of her job as a senior royal, Kate Middleton has become a powerhouse in early childhood development in recent years by convening experts and opening the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood. On Thursday, the Duchess donned a millennial pink trouser suit and gathered a group of pundits and politicians at London’s Royal Institution to discuss a newly released report that will help Kate and her team chart their way forward.
Together with Sajid Javidthe British Secretary of State for Health, Will QuinceMinister for Families, and a host of representatives from the early childhood sector, Kate revealed the results of the survey, conducted by polling agency Ipsos on behalf of the foundation.
“We know that only a minority of people understand the critical importance of the first five years of a child’s life, and this is what we really need to change,” the Duchess said during the roundtable. Hello† “Teaching children to manage their emotions and feelings at an early age will help them avoid becoming addicted, harming or committing suicide even later in life. Together we have a huge opportunity here to help shape the future.”
Like a previous Ipsos survey distributed by the Center for Early Childhood when it was launched last June, the new survey aims to gauge awareness of the importance of early childhood among the British population. “While the majority of us agree that the experiences people have in childhood can have a significant impact on their future, a minority of Britons recognize the unique importance of the first five years of a child’s life,” according to Ipsos UK’s CEO Kelly Beaver said in a statement. “This critical new research for the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood provides an opportunity for society to spark a discussion about how to better support parents and children during this time.”
In her own statement released along with the report, Kate explained why measuring early childhood awareness is part of the foundation’s work. “The findings published today present us with a huge opportunity and show that there is a real interest from the public in raising this issue. [in] all our agendas,” she said. “There is more we can all do – every member of society can play a key role, whether that be directly with a child or by investing in the adults around them – the parents, the carers, the young workforce and more .”
Though a mother herself, Kate has previously explained that her passion for researching the lifelong effects of childhood came from her involvement in charities that fight addiction. In 2019, one of Kate’s assistants said: Vanity Fair that her involvement in the project has been built up over the course of a few years, as involvement was part of her long-term plans. “This is not a project that the Duchess will be diving in and out of, it is something that will define her for decades to come,” the assistant said. “This is very much a personal mission and one that Kate wants to drive.”
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