01
The Challenge
A government recognised the importance of early childhood education but had not prioritised it in the budget, in part because the economic case had never been made in terms a finance ministry would find compelling.
Turning an unfunded aspiration into a government-owned financing plan with explicit budget commitments.
A government recognised the importance of early childhood education but had not prioritised it in the budget, in part because the economic case had never been made in terms a finance ministry would find compelling.
NXA built an investment case combining cost-benefit analysis of scaling up early childhood education with a fiscal space analysis identifying how the investment could be financed. We quantified both the cost of action and the cost of inaction.
The returns to early childhood investment substantially exceeded the costs over a realistic horizon, and a phased scale-up was financeable within available fiscal space — making the case in the finance ministry's own terms.
A costed, financed investment case with policy briefs tailored to both technical and political audiences.
The investment case equipped advocates with the economic evidence to argue for increased early childhood financing in the budget process.
"The investment case equipped advocates with the economic evidence to argue for increased early childhood financing in the budget process."