The potential of quality early childhood care and education (ECCE) to transform young lives is increasingly recognised. Accounts of innovative and effective programmes have been disseminated widely and endorsed by scientific evidence as well as economic and human rights arguments. Reports about model programmes and the high returns on ECCE investments provide crucial leverage in advocating for policy change and programme development. They are also a source of inspiration to all who work with children and families. But they tell only part of the story.

This paper examines the relationship between early stunting and later cognitive achievement. The data were collected at two points in time, once in 2002 when children were 6 to 20 months old, and again in 2006-7 when they were 4 to 6 years old. The sample includes 1,963 children from three geographical regions: the Pacific Coastal, the Highlands, and the Amazonian Jungle. Height-for-age was used as an assessment of early stunting. The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test was administered to collected standardised scores of cognitive achievement.

Abstract: Migration affects not only those who migrate, but may also have intergenerational effects on their children. Looking at those mothers with a history of internal migration who are part of the Young Lives project, and comparing them with suitable controls, we find that mothers’ migration has had a positive impact on the nutritional outcomes and cognitive achievement of their offspring.