Children's ability to survive, thrive, and navigate the path to adulthood is significantly influenced by their parents and caregivers. The brain development of infants depends on a loving bond with a primary caregiver, and the benefits of secure attachment extend well beyond this age, with parent-child relationship quality also predicting wellbeing later in life. Those with engaged, supportive parents experience better learning outcomes, improved online safety (PDF), and lower rates of childhood obesity among many other long-term benefits.
Yet effective caregiving does not happen automatically: providing a stable and nurturing environment is a skillset that in many cases must be intentionally developed. Recognising this, researchers increasingly highlight the strengthening of caregiving practices as a powerful strategy for advancing child development and well-being, across low-, middle- and high-income countries. To implement such a strategy, however, policymakers, funders, and sector professionals need more powerful ways to share knowledge about what sorts of interventions work best.
The Potential of Parenting Interventions
Parenting interventions offer structured activities and services designed to enhance how adults approach their caregiving role. These initiatives build caregivers' knowledge, confidence, and practical skills, helping them better support children's emotional, cognitive, and physical development. Evidence-based models often focus on positive communication, nonviolent discipline, emotional regulation, problem-solving, and fostering warm, secure relationships within the home.
The benefits of such interventions extend far beyond individual families. Children whose caregivers receive effective support are more likely to achieve their full developmental potential, from improved physical and mental health to stronger academic attainment and greater resilience. Over time, these gains contribute (PDF) to higher productivity, increased earnings, and more cohesive communities. Perhaps most importantly, well-supported parenting can interrupt cycles of violence (PDF), laying the foundation for safer, healthier societies. In this way, parenting interventions represent not only an investment in families, but in the social and economic future of communities worldwide.
Parenting interventions represent not only an investment in families, but in the social and economic future of communities worldwide.
A Constrained Landscape
Despite their fundamental role in shaping children's lives, parents and caregivers are frequently overlooked in policy discussions and underrepresented when resources are allocated. A survey conducted by the World Health Organization estimated that only around 25 percent of countries worldwide have established parenting programmes that reach all who need them. Support for those raising the next generation is often fragmented or insufficiently tailored to the specific needs of different groups.
At a time when funding is particularly scarce, policymakers and practitioners alike are under pressure to source and deliver effective solutions. Neglecting to adequately fund support for parents and caregivers can lead to significant costs for individuals, families, and society. Meanwhile, parenting interventions represent a cost-effective policy solution. However, while a multitude of parenting interventions exist around the world, many lack a strong evidence base or understanding of how they may be transferred across contexts. Given the potential for wasted resources and unintended harm if unevidenced interventions are commissioned, access to tested, effective, and transferrable parenting interventions is more critical than ever.
Keeping Track of What Works
Between 2013 and 2021, RAND Europe, working closely with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion (DG EMPL), maintained the online European Platform for Investing in Children (EPIC). This included a repository of 'practices that work,' covering a broad range of topic areas, including supporting parenting and childcare, but limited in scope to interventions implemented within the European Union.
In partnership with the World Health Organization, over the coming year this repository will be revived, broadening its scope to cover global case studies including interventions implemented and researched in low- and middle-income countries. Using a combination of expert reviewers and novel AI approaches, parenting interventions will be sourced and assessed against key criteria relating to their effectiveness and the extent to which they can be implemented and scaled within a global context.
By creating this global repository, we hope to empower practitioners, policymakers, and researchers with the tools and information they need to deliver more impactful support to families. Ultimately, our ambition is that this shared knowledge will drive better outcomes for children and communities worldwide, fostering environments where every child can thrive.
Neglecting to adequately fund support for parents and caregivers can lead to significant costs for individuals, families, and society. Meanwhile, parenting interventions represent a cost-effective policy solution.
Contribute to the Repository
As we develop the repository, we are seeking evidence-based parenting interventions from around the world, particularly those implemented in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. If you are aware of interventions with a solid foundation in evidence that have not yet been captured in existing repositories, reviews, or databases, we invite you to share them for potential inclusion in this global resource. Please contact maitken@randeurope.org or sabinev@who.int with any suggestions.
