The clear social gradient associated with children's vocabulary,
emerging literacy, well - being and behaviour is evident from birth to school entry.1 These trajectories track into
adolescence and correspond to poorer educational attainment, income and health across the life course.2 — 10 Neuroimaging research extends the evidence for these suboptimal trajectories, showing that children raised in poverty from infancy are more likely to have delayed brain growth with smaller volumetric size of the regions particularly responsible for executive functioning and language.11 This evidence supports the need for further effort to redress inequities that arise from the impact of adversity
during the potential developmental window of opportunity in
early childhood.