The research uncovers multiple challenges for refugee and asylum-seeking babies and young children, including barriers to accessing ECEC settings, to learning at home, and to accessing adequate nutrition and support for their physical development. It shows the precarity, hardship and insecurity facing refugee and asylum-seeking families, and the extent to which many young children are having their early childhood development put at risk.

Yet the research also highlights the value of quality ECEC for these families. When it’s accessible, trauma-informed and contextual, ECEC provision has transformative potential for refugee and asylum-seeking children and their parents. The research highlights promising practice from local authorities and the voluntary sector, and makes evidence-based recommendations to national and local Government.