International Perspectives

Psychology Today has a fascinating article (ht: Alyssa Rosenberg) about the mental health implications of China's one-child policy on the current generation of young adults who grew up in one-child homes. The piece focuses heavily on both the pressure many Chinese children are under to fulfill all their parents' dreams for their offspring's success, as well as the lengths some Chinese families go to to indulge their only children. These anecdotes get far more play than research findings the article glosses over, however:

Yet despite the stereotype, the research has revealed no evidence that only kids have more negative traits than their peers with siblings—in China or anywhere else. "The only way only children are reliably different from others is they score slightly higher in academic achievement," explains Toni Falbo, a University of Texas psychology professor who has gathered data on more than 4,000 Chinese only kids. Sure, some little emperors are bratty, but no more than children with siblings.

This weekend, a who's who of Latin pop stars, including Shakira and Ricky Martin, held free concerts in Buenos Aires and Mexico City to build awareness for the importance of early childhood development and raise funds for ALAS, a nonprofit started by Latin American artists, including Shakira, Wyclef Jean, and Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez, to pressure governments and businesses across the region to support programs that improve early childhood development for poor children. The above clip is from the Buenos Aires concert.

Let's hope their message was heard: There are 54 million children under the age of 5 in Latin America, 32 million of whom live in poverty, and improving childhood development and education for these youngsters is essential for the region's future progress. Someone seems to be listening; last week ALAS raised $200 million in funding for its mission from Mexican telecom billionaire Carlos Slim Helú and Howard Buffet (son of Warren Buffet, who's made significant investments in early education in the United States as well).

It's become a cliche among politicians and early education supporters to argue that the United States needs new early childhood investments to prepare our youngsters to compete with workers in India and China--or "Beijing and Bangalore" as Barack Obama recently said. But, as a recent article about preschool franchising in India reflects, parent demand for quality early education options is growing in India and China as well.

Currently, the preschool industry in [India] is estimated to gross about Rs4,004 crore ($985 million). The sector is likely to cross Rs13,821 crore by 2012, a growth of more than 28% per year, according to estimates from brokerage firm CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. With nearly three-quarters of the country’s population under the age of 35, the demand for quality preschools is expected to only intensify.