A quarter of children worldwide still start primary school without a year of organised learning, and an estimated 249 million children under five in low- and middle-income countries are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential.
Updated October 15, 2026. Written from the sources listed below, not independently peer-reviewed.
Of the world's 194 countries, how many have adopted at least one year of pre-primary education that is both free and compulsory?
75%
Children in organised learning one year before primary school
Up only slightly from 74% in 2015. In sub-Saharan Africa and in Northern Africa and Western Asia, the regions with the largest gaps, rates rose from roughly 45% to around 52%.
Data year 2024. Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2026
249 million
Children under five at risk of poor development
43% of children under five in low- and middle-income countries, down from 279 million (51%) in 2004. A modelled estimate based on stunting and extreme poverty.
Data year 2010. Source: The Lancet Global Health 4(12):e916–e922, 2016
1.7%
Share of direct aid to education spent on pre-primary
Aid for pre-primary education reached a peak of US$282 million in 2022, up 40% from 2021. Across 98 countries, median public spending on pre-primary is 0.4% of GDP, against a recommended 1%.
Data year 2022. Source: UNESCO and UNICEF, 2024
Only the two values reported in the UN's 2026 SDG progress report are shown; years in between are not plotted. An earlier UNESCO and UNICEF report, based on an older data release, gave 75% for 2020 and 72% for 2022, so the series is revised as new data arrive.
SDG target 4.2 calls for all children to have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education by 2030. UNESCO and UNICEF judge the world off track: at least 6 million more teachers are needed to give every child one year of pre-primary education by 2030, low- and lower-middle-income countries face an average financing gap of US$21 billion a year between 2023 and 2030, and in the 2022 Tashkent Declaration countries pledged to work towards spending at least 10% of their education budgets on pre-primary education.
Participation in organised learning one year before primary school is above 90% in Europe, Northern America and Latin America and the Caribbean, but only around 52% in sub-Saharan Africa and in Northern Africa and Western Asia.
Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2026Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest share of young children at risk of poor development in both 2004 and 2010, while South Asia saw the largest fall.
Source: The Lancet Global Health 4(12):e916–e922, 2016In 97 countries with data, only 4% of the poorest children live in a household with children's books and 46% have playthings at home; children with disabilities are 25% less likely to attend early childhood education.
Source: UNESCO and UNICEF, 2024Women spend 3.2 times as much time as men on care work, which the World Bank links to 708 million women being kept out of jobs and entrepreneurship; nearly 350 million children lack adequate childcare.
Source: World Bank, 2026Each country is shaded by its latest available value, so you can see where the gap is widest. Hover or tap a country, search for one, or open the full table.
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Gross enrolment ratio in pre-primary education: children enrolled at any age as a share of the population of official pre-primary age, so darker shades mean fewer children in pre-primary programmes. Latest year available per country since 2015, mostly 2020 or 2021, so years differ; values above 100% reflect over- or under-age enrolment, and because the official pre-primary age range differs between countries (in some it covers only kindergarten), the ratio is not a direct measure of the SDG 4.2.2 participation rate or of quality.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, via World Bank Open Data. Latest year available per country; years differ.
Values load from World Bank Open Data. Simplified Natural Earth borders; they imply no position on disputed territories.
Instead of one “percent solved” score, DO GOOD rates three separate dimensions. A problem can have mature solutions that still reach too few people. These ratings are an editorial reading of the sources on this page, not a measured index.
Has the situation improved in the real world?
LowParticipation in organised learning one year before primary school rose only from 74% in 2015 to 75% in 2024. The share of young children at risk of poor development fell from 51% to 43% between 2004 and 2010, but no comparable global update exists.
How mature and validated are the available solutions?
ModerateNurturing care interventions are well described and can cost as little as 50 cents per child per year when added to existing health services, and a Jamaican trial found large effects on adult earnings. But much of the strongest evidence comes from small studies, and quality at national scale is less proven.
How widely are effective solutions actually used?
ModerateThree in four children now get a year of organised learning before school, but only 46 of 194 countries guarantee a free and compulsory pre-primary year, and only 57% of pre-primary teachers in low-income countries have the minimum required training.
Enrolment and participation data are collected routinely, though revised between releases. The development of children themselves is poorly measured: the UN's 2026 report has no global figure for indicator 4.2.1, and the main global estimate is a proxy based on stunting and poverty for 2010.
Participation has risen by only one percentage point since 2015, aid and public spending remain far below recommended levels, and UNESCO and UNICEF describe the world as off track for 2030, although the regions furthest behind are slowly catching up.
The brain develops faster in the first two to three years of life than at any later time, and what happens in these years shapes health, learning and earnings decades later. Children need what the Lancet series on early childhood development calls nurturing care: good health and nutrition, security and safety, responsive caregiving and opportunities to learn, at home and later in pre-primary education. Based on two proxies, stunting and extreme poverty, researchers estimated that 249 million children under five in low- and middle-income countries, 43% of the age group, were at risk of not reaching their developmental potential in 2010. Organised learning before school is one part of the answer: in 2024, 75% of children worldwide took part in organised learning one year before the official age for starting primary school, a share that has barely moved since 2015 (74%).
The gaps follow region, income and disadvantage. Participation is consistently above 90% in Europe, Northern America and Latin America and the Caribbean, but around 52% in sub-Saharan Africa and in Northern Africa and Western Asia. Across 97 countries with data, only 4% of the poorest children live in a household with children's books, and children with disabilities are 25% less likely to attend early childhood education. Many families also depend on childcare to work, yet the World Bank estimates that nearly 350 million children lack adequate childcare. Missing out is costly. The Lancet series estimates that people who start life with poor development lose about a quarter of average adult income per year, and that the losses to some countries can reach twice what they spend on health or education.
SDG target 4.2 asks that by 2030 all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary school. Progress is tracked with two indicators and a wider concept of care:
Developmentally on track (indicator 4.2.1)
The share of children aged 24 to 59 months whose development is on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex. UNICEF is the custodian agency, and the UN's 2026 progress report gives no global figure for it.
Organised learning before school (indicator 4.2.2)
The share of children one year younger than the official primary entry age who take part in organised learning, such as a pre-primary class or early childhood programme. It shows access, not whether the programme is of good quality.
Nurturing care
The Lancet series describes five things young children need: health, nutrition, security and safety, responsive caregiving and early learning. Supporting families to provide them involves health, nutrition, education, social and child protection services.
Risk of poor development (proxy)
Because direct measures of development are scarce, the widely cited global estimate counts children under five who are stunted or live in extreme poverty as at risk. It is a modelled proxy, not a direct assessment of children's skills.
What works
Making pre-primary education free and part of compulsory schooling widens access. In countries with free pre-primary education, 83% of children aged 36 to 59 months are developmentally on track, compared with 66.6% in countries without it.
Limits
The comparison between countries does not prove cause and effect, and wider access needs trained teachers: only 57% of pre-primary teachers in low-income countries have the minimum required training, and at least 6 million more are needed by 2030.
What works
Regular visits that help parents play, talk and interact with their children can have lasting effects. In a Jamaican trial with 127 stunted toddlers in 1987–1989, a two-year home-visiting programme led to 43% higher hourly wages and 37% higher earnings at age 31.
Limits
The trial was small, 25% of participants could not be traced 30 years later, and results from a well-supervised study do not automatically carry over to large public programmes.
What works
Health workers who already see families during pregnancy and the first years can add advice on responsive caregiving and early learning to routine care. The Lancet series estimates this can cost as little as 50 cents per child per year when combined with existing services.
Limits
It depends on functioning health services and on staff who have the time and training to counsel parents, which are often missing where needs are greatest.
What works
Childcare can support children's development and allow parents, mostly mothers, to work. The World Bank reports evidence from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burkina Faso of gains in child development, women's work, earnings and household income, and childcare programmes in Rwanda employed about 28,000 women and served more than 72,000 young children by September 2025.
Limits
The World Bank summary does not report effect sizes, and childcare that is cheap but of low quality may help parents work without helping children develop.
What works
Leave gives parents time to care for newborns. Of 185 countries with statutory maternity leave, 123 offer it fully paid, and 115 also provide paternity leave, 102 of them paid.
Limits
Laws on paper do not show how many parents actually take leave, and paternity leave is still missing in many countries that provide maternity leave.
Promising, but not proven at scale. The stage shows how far each approach has come; it is not a recommendation.
Governments and the World Bank are expanding childcare partly as an employment policy, with an estimated 43 to 96 million jobs that could be created by meeting current childcare needs. World Bank operations supporting childcare grew from six a decade ago to more than 130 in 2025; most results reported so far are about coverage rather than measured effects on children.
In the 2022 Tashkent Declaration, countries pledged to work towards spending at least 10% of education budgets on pre-primary, and aid to pre-primary rose 40% between 2021 and 2022. Whether these pledges translate into lasting budget lines is not yet clear, as pre-primary still received only 1.7% of direct aid to education.
Indicator 4.2.1 asks whether children aged 24 to 59 months are on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, with UNICEF as the custodian agency, but the UN's 2026 progress report still gives no global figure for it.
Implementation gap
Across 98 countries, median public spending on pre-primary education is 0.4% of GDP, well below the recommended 1%, and the financing gap in low- and lower-middle-income countries averages US$21 billion a year to 2030.
Coordination gap
Pre-primary education received only 1.7% of direct aid to education in 2022, although aid to it had risen to a peak of US$282 million.
Implementation gap
At least 6 million more teachers are needed to reach national benchmarks for one year of pre-primary education by 2030, and in low-income countries only 57% of pre-primary teachers have the minimum required training.
Coordination gap
Only 46 of 194 countries have adopted at least one year of pre-primary education that is both free and compulsory. Elsewhere, access depends on what public and private provision exists locally and what families can afford.
Coordination gap
Nurturing care spans health, nutrition, education, social protection and child protection, and the Lancet series calls for building capacity and strengthening coordination across these sectors.
Knowledge gap
The main global estimate of children at risk is a proxy from 2010 based on stunting and poverty, and there is still no global figure for the share of children who are developmentally on track.
Unresolved questions, not vetted breakthroughs. Answering any of them would change what is possible.
Why do the large effects of small, well-run programmes often shrink when governments scale them up, and which features of training, supervision and curriculum keep pre-primary and parenting programmes effective nationwide?
Which aspects of quality, such as group size, teacher training, play-based teaching or hours per day, matter most for children's development in low-income settings, and what is the minimum that still makes a difference?
How can childcare be designed so that it raises mothers' employment and earnings and also improves children's development, rather than trading one off against the other?
How well do short survey-based measures of early development capture children's skills in different languages and cultures, and how can they be linked to later learning?
If you care for or spend time with a young child, everyday reading, conversation and play are part of nurturing care. Donating children's books to families, libraries or early learning centres that need them is a small, concrete way to help others do the same.
When you give to early childhood programmes, prefer organisations that report how many children they reach, how teachers and home visitors are trained and supervised, and what happens to children's development over time.
If you are an employer or have a say at work, look at paid parental leave for all parents and support with childcare. As an employee, ask what your workplace offers.
Ask how much of your country's education budget and development aid goes to pre-primary education, and whether a free year of pre-primary is guaranteed in law.
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United Nations Statistics Division, published 2026
Official UN summary of target 4.2: participation in organised learning one year before primary rose from 74% in 2015 to 75% in 2024, above 90% in Europe, Northern America and Latin America and the Caribbean and from about 45% to 52% in the regions with the largest gaps. Notes that no storyline was available for indicator 4.2.1.
UNESCO and UNICEF, published 2024
Summary of the first global report requested by the 2022 Tashkent Declaration (document ED-2024/WS/6). Source of the 46-of-194 legal provision figure, developmental status with and without free pre-primary, home learning environment and disability gaps, teacher needs and training, parental leave provisions, public spending (0.4% of GDP), aid to pre-primary in 2022 and the US$21 billion financing gap.
The Lancet Global Health 4(12):e916–e922 (Lu, Black, Richter), via RTI International, published 2016
Modelled estimate, based on stunting and extreme poverty, that 249.4 million children under five (43%) in low- and middle-income countries were at risk of poor development in 2010, down from 279.1 million (51%) in 2004, with the highest prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa.
World Health Organization (on The Lancet series Advancing Early Childhood Development: from Science to Scale), published 2016
Summary of the 2016 Lancet series: definition of nurturing care, rapid brain development in the first two to three years, loss of about a quarter of average adult income per year, country losses up to twice health or education spending, costs as low as 50 cents per child per year, and calls for coordination across sectors.
World Bank, published 2026
World Bank results summary (June 2026): nearly 350 million children lacking adequate childcare, women's 3.2-fold care burden and 708 million women excluded from work, potential for 43–96 million childcare jobs, growth of World Bank childcare operations to more than 130 in 2025, and country results including Rwanda. The figure that more than 40% of children below primary-school age need childcare is from the World Bank's Invest in Childcare brief (https://www.worldbank.org/en/brief/2025/04/01/investinchildcare).
NBER Working Paper 29292 (Gertler, Heckman, Pinto, Chang, Grantham-McGregor, Vermeersch, Walker, Wright), published 2021
Follow-up of a randomised home-visiting trial with 127 stunted children aged 9–24 months in 1987–1989: at age 31 the treatment group had 43% higher hourly wages and 37% higher earnings; 75% of the original sample was traced.