Home environment
Many young children are deprived of play, stimulation and interaction with their parents and caregivers
An optimal home environment includes safe and well-organized physical conditions, opportunities for children to play, explore and discover, and the presence of developmentally appropriate objects, toys and books. [1] In addition, engagement in early stimulation and responsive interactions with caring adults is an essential element of brain development – and of building a solid foundation for a child’s future. Despite its importance, updated UNICEF estimates show that approximately 4 in 10 children aged 2-4 years do not engage in enough stimulating activities with caregivers at home. Meanwhile, around 1 in 10 children of this age do not engage in any such activities with caregivers. These types of interactions like reading, singing, storytelling and drawing are critical to promoting cognitive, social and emotional development. The available data also show that around 1 in 5 children aged 2-4 years do not play with their caregivers at home, while roughly 1 in 7 children under age 5 do not have toys or playthings at home. [2]
Within the home, caregivers are tasked with establishing a safe, stimulating and nurturing environment and providing direction and guidance in daily life. Interactions with responsible caregivers who are sensitive and responsive to children’s emerging abilities are central to social, emotional and cognitive development.[3] This type of nurturing care can help children feel valued and accepted, promote and model healthy social relationships, and contribute to later academic and employment success.[4]
Activities that foster cognitive, social and emotional development and stimulate curiosity include reading; telling stories; naming, counting and drawing; singing; and playing.
In the least developed countries, fewer than half of young children receive the benefits of early stimulation and responsive care at home. The data reveal disparities by household wealth, with children in the poorest households less likely to receive early stimulation and responsive care than those in the richest households in the least developed countries and in sub-Saharan Africa.
References
[1] Dobrova-Krol, Natasha A., et al., ‘Effects of Perinatal HIV Infection and Early Institutional Rearing on Physical and Cognitive Development of Children in Ukraine’, Child Development, vol. 81, no. 1, January/February 2010, pp. 237–251.
[2] United Nations Children’s Fund, Selected Facts on Caregiving Practices and Access to Play Opportunities at Home, UNICEF, New York, 2025.
[3] Maggi, Stefania, et al., ‘Knowledge Network for Early Childhood Development: Analytic and strategic review paper. International perspectives on early childhood development’, Human Early Learning Partnership, University of British Columbia for the World Health Organization’s Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, December 2005, pp. 7–8, 10–13.
[4] Engle, Patrice L., et al., ‘Child Development in Developing Countries 3: Strategies to avoid the loss of developmental potential in more than 200 million children in the developing world’, Lancet, vol. 369, 2007, pp. 229─242.
Early childhood development – home environment data
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Resources
Notes on the data
Data sources
Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) are the main sources for nationally representative and comparable data on early childhood development. Some Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and other national household surveys have also collected information on early childhood development, typically with the standard, or modified, versions of the MICS questionnaire.
Main indicators
Beginning with the fourth round of MICS (MICS4), the early childhood development indicators were consolidated into a single early childhood development module included in the questionnaire for children under 5 years of age.[8] The module is administered to mothers or primary caregivers of children under the age of 5 (0 to 59 months).
Early childhood development indicators capture the availability/variety of learning materials in the home, adult and paternal support for learning and school readiness, and non-adult care. Learning materials include both books and play materials defined as household objects, objects found outside (such as sticks, rocks, shells, etc.), home-made toys and manufactured toys. Activities that promote learning and school readiness include: reading books to the child; telling stories to the child; singing songs to the child; taking the child outside the home; playing with the child; and naming, counting or drawing things with the child.
Learning materials:
- Percentage of children under 5 who have three or more children’s books.
- Percentage of children under 5 with two or more playthings.
Early stimulation and responsive care:
- Percentage of children aged 24─59 months with whom an adult has engaged in four or more activities to provide early stimulation and responsive care in the past three days.
Inadequate supervision:
- Percentage of children under 5 left alone or in the care of another child younger than 10 years of age for more than one hour at least once in the past week.
MICS module on early childhood development
MICS surveys have a standardized module on early childhood development.
Download the MICS module on early childhood development (PDF)
References
[8] Indicator definitions in the third round of MICS (MICS3) differed for some early childhood development indicators. For example, the age group for the two indicators on support for learning (adult and father’s engagement) was children under age 5. As such, data on some of the indicators from MICS3 are not directly comparable with data collected in subsequent rounds of MICS for any given country.