Understanding how people make decisions is of interest not only to economists, but has become a focus for many disciplines that now recognize the growing contribution of behavioral change approaches to policies and programs. In this way, behavioral economics has made its way into global social agendas due to its broad impact, and fortunately, the early childhood agenda is no exception.
Based on the reflections of the fourth workshop of the Community of Practice in Early Childhood Development (ECD), organized by the Bernard Van Leer Foundation and the IDB ECD Innovation Fund, in this blog we share behavioral science experiences carried out by relevant actors in the region that optimize their positive impact on the lives of young children and their families.
Familia+ in Brazil: Improving Parenting Practices in Early Childhood Education Systems
Ana Luiza Colagrossi, researcher at the Child Development Center – CEDI – FMUSP, shared the application of behavioral sciences in Familia+, a multilevel strategy developed in Brazil aimed at improving parent-child relationships in early childhood education systems.
Holding monthly meetings with parents and sending them small nudges (behavioral prompts) for 12 weeks worked: caregivers not only increased their knowledge about activities for child development but also engaged in more of these activities, increased their motivation, and incorporated the feedback they received, further enhancing their understanding of the importance and implementation of these stimulation activities.
Uruguay Crece Contigo: Messages and Workshops to Support Pregnant Women and Promote Better Parenting
Ana Balsa, from the University of Montevideo, presented the findings of a project in Uruguay supported by the Early Childhood Development Fund (DIT), together with the Uruguay Crece Contigo program of the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES), which used behavioral sciences to promote respectful parenting and support women in pregnancy through interventions in different formats.
Among the main lessons, he highlighted the importance of considering the contexts for each intervention. For instance, in households under a lot of stress, messages may impose additional cognitive load on parents, meaning the content might not result in greater well-being. In these cases, a face-to-face workshop combined with remote content proved to be a promising strategy to enhance developmental activities such as singing, playing and reading, especially in families with higher ‘biases‘.
Having biases is human: it means we make mistakes in how we think, perceive, and make decisions. Some biases include loss aversion or present bias. For example, families with a greater bias toward the present will tend to put off activities they could do today because the present seems more tempting.
Behavioral Sciences Unit in Argentina: Identifying ‘Biases’ to Design Strategies that Promote Breastfeeding
Iván Budassi and Paula Caccia, from the Behavioral Sciences and Public Policy Unit of the Ministry of Economy of Argentina, presented the implementation of a project aimed at promoting breastfeeding, supported by the IDB.
They emphasized the importance of identifying specific biases in decision-making to improve intervention design. For example, it was found that:
- There is a tendency for short-term bias, meaning people choose a smaller, immediate benefit over a larger, long-term one. In the case of breastfeeding, many opt for the immediate benefit of rapid weight gain for the baby rather than the long-term benefits for both mother and child, often choosing formula over breast milk.
- There is also an action bias, where people tend to respond with an automatic action. In healthcare, for example, patients often expect to “take something” from a consultation, leading to a tendency among doctors to prescribe formula milk by default.
Technical Support in Processes, Implementation, and Evidence Dissemination
The lessons learned from the different programs are of high value to continue advancing in the application of behavioral sciences for the benefit of early childhood. The involvement of diverse stakeholders is essential for promoting this agenda. In this regard, Sam Sternin, Consultant in Behavioral Sciences, shared how the Bernard van Leer Foundation offers support for applying behavioral sciences through a four-component strategy: providing technical assistance to programs in the countries where the Foundation works; systematizing mechanisms to strengthen the use of behavioral sciences in public policies promoting ECD; implementing an executive course on behavior change and ECD that trains teams implementing programs; and disseminating evidence generated from interventions dedicated to early years.
Attention to Detail for Greater Impact
It’s the small details in program design that can have a larger impact on child development. Small subtleties (such as when an SMS is sent, who the sender is, or the frequency with which facilitators’ work is monitored) affect every micro-decision that staff, mothers, fathers, and caregivers make next.
This implies a great responsibility in the design and implementation of these interventions, but it also brings good news: achieving behavior change may be much less costly than we thought, which is crucial for early childhood policies in the region and their budgetary challenges.
Discover more about behavioral sciences in the book The Science of Details: Simple Tools to Improve Your Behavior and Society’s Behavior and learn more content generated by the Community of Practice at this link!
Access here to The science of details: simple tools to improve your behavior and that of society.
The Early Childhood Development Innovation Fund is a partnership between the Inter-American Development Bank, FEMSA Foundation, Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation, Porticus and Bernard Van Leer Foundation that finances, designs, implements and evaluates innovative and scalable solutions to improve the lives of children in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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