Child Development

MICS3 Data Analysis and Report Writing

Early childhood development: Background

• A period of rapid brain development occurs in the first 3-4 years of life

• The quality of home environment is the major factor determining the child’s development during this period

• Over 240 million children under 5 in the developing world are not developing their full potential.

International Goals & Targets

“That children should be physically healthy, mentally alert,

emotionally secure, socially competent and ready to learn”

Early childhood development: Background

• Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) inventory – to measure the quality and quantity of stimulation and support available to a child in the home environment

• UNICEF has developed an alternative list of questions similar to HOME – longer list of questions, piloted in 7 different settings, includes 5 sub-scales:–Adult activities with children–Sources of play materials–Presence of books in the home, and for the child–Severity of punishment–Conditions of care

Early childhood development: Background

• Activities correlate strongly with nutritional status and IQ scores–Activities include adult engagement in:

•Reading books, looking at picture books•Telling stories•Singing•Playing•Taking out•Naming, counting, drawing things

• Books are associated with stunting, vocabulary score, IQ score, important for later school performance

Early childhood development: Background

• Materials for play:

Play is child’s work, Young children learn by

manipulating objects Home-based toys require no money

and indicative of involvement of family members in child care.

Early childhood development: Background

• Inadequate care:–Children left alone–Children left in the care of other children

Increased risk of accidents

Indicator

MICS indicator 46 – Support for Learning

Numerator:

Number of children aged 0-59 months living in households in which an adult has engaged in four or more activities to promote learning and school readiness in the past 3 days

Denominator: Total number of children aged 0-59 months

surveyed

Indicator

MICS Indicator 47- Father’s support for learning

Numerator: Number of children aged 0-59 months whose father has engaged in one or more activities to promote learning and school readiness in the past 3 days

Denominator: Total number of children aged 0-59 months

Table CD.1: Family support for learning

For whom household members engaged in four or more activities that promote learning and school readiness*

Mean number of activities household members engage in

with the child

For whom the father engaged in one or more activities that promote learning

and school readiness**

Mean number of activities the father engaged in with the

child

Living in a household without their natural father

Number of children aged 0-59 months

Sex

Male

Female

Region

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Residence

Urban

Rural

Age

0-23 months

24-59 months

Mother's education

None

Primary

Secondary +

Father's education

None na

Primary na

Secondary + na

Father not in HH na na na

Wealth index quintiles

Poorest

Second

Middle

Fourth

Richest

Ethnicity/Language/Religion

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Total

* MICS indicator 46

** MICS Indicator 47

Percentage of children aged 0-59 months for whom household members are engaged in activities that promote learning and school readiness, Country, Year

* Any adult has engaged in 4 or more activities to promote learning and school readiness in the past 3 days (BR8A-F=A,B,X)

** Father has provided one or more activities to promote learning and school readiness (BR8A-F=B)

Percentage of children aged 0-59 months

Indicator

MICS indicator 48 – Support for learning: children’s books

Numerator: Number of households with three or more children’s books

Denominator: Total number of households surveyed

Indicator

MICS indicator 49 – Support for learning: non-children’s books

Numerator: Number of households with three or more non-children’s books

Denominator:

Total number of households surveyed

Indicator

MICS indicator 50 – Support for learning: materials for play

Numerator: Number of households with three or more materials intended for play

Denominator: Total number of households surveyed

Table CD.2: Learning materials

3 or more non-

children's books*

Median number of

non-children's

books

3 or more

children's books**

Median number of children's

booksHousehold

objects

Objects and materials

found outside the home

Home-made toys

Toys that came from a store

No playthings mentioned

3 or more types of

playthings ***

Sex

Male

Female

Region

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Residence

Urban

Rural

Age

0-23 months

24-59 months

Mother’s education

None

Primary

Secondary +

Wealth index quintiles

Poorest

Second

Middle

Fourth

Richest

Ethnicity/Language/Religion

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Total

* MICS indicator 49

** MICS indicator 48

*** MICS indicator 50

Percentage of children aged 0-59 months living in households containing learning materials, Country, Year

*** The numerator is based on CE3 where the responses included 3 or more of A, B, C and D.

* The numerator is based on responses to CE1 (CE1>=3 and CE1<=98). The median is calculated excluding cases where the response is unknown.

** The numerator is based on responses to CE2 (CE2>=3 and CE2<=98). The median is calculated excluding cases where the response is unknown.

Children living in households with: Child has: Child plays with:

Number of children

aged 0-59 months

Indicator

MICS indicator 51 – Non-adult care

Numerator: Number of children aged 0-59 months left alone or in the care of another child younger than 10 years of age in the past week

Denominator: Total number of children aged 0-59 months

surveyed

Table CD.3: Children left alone or with other children

Left in the care of children under the age

of 10 years in past week

Left alone in the past week

Left with inadequate care in past week*

Number of children aged 0-59 months

SexMaleFemaleRegionRegion 1Region 2Region 3ResidenceUrbanRuralAge0-23 months24-59 monthsMother’s educationNonePrimarySecondary +Wealth index quintilesPoorestSecondMiddleFourthRichestEthnicity/Language/ReligionGroup 1Group 2Group 3

Total

Percentage of children aged 0-59 months left in the care of other children under the age of 10 years or left alone in the past week, Country, Year

* MICS indicator 51

Percentage of children aged 0-59 months

Methodological issues

Non-children’s books asked for the household, while children’s books asked for each child

Materials child plays with may add to more than 100, as it was a multiple-response question

Questions new to MICS