Creating nurturing environments: Addressing domestic violence to improve early childhood development outcomes

Optimal early childhood development (ECD) is critical for long-term health and economic well-being. Over a quarter of young children across low- and middle-income countries face developmental delays. Domestic violence (DV) is harmful to children's healthy development. Using a difference-in-differences design across 38,955 African children aged 36–59 months, this study examines the impact of laws prohibiting DV on ECD status. We find that DV laws significantly increase the probability of being developmentally on track for children born after enactment by 27.7 percentage points. Children with partial exposure also showed a 24.1 percentage point increase. These gains are primarily driven by advancements in the socio-emotional domain.