PRINCESS KATE ISSUES FRESH PLEA OVER 'STRESSFUL' TIME AFTER LAUNCHING MAJOR NEW CAMPAIGN
Catherine, the Princess of Wales has issued a powerful plea to employers in Britain to help parents through the "stressful" time of nurturing home life and work as part of a fresh campaign to bolster focus around children's formative years. Earlier this year, the Princess launched a major new campaign, Shaping Us, aimed at boosting awareness of early childhood and its impact in shaping the rest of our lives.
Writing in the FT Weekend, the Princess of Wales has now called on the business community in the UK to help "harness the interest and enthusiasm around this to drive real action" around the issue.
Catherine wrote: "The science shows that from pregnancy to age five, our brains develop faster than at any other age.
"The way we develop, through our experiences, relationships and surroundings at that very young age, lays the scaffolding as we grow into adulthood.
"And it is specifically our social and emotional development during that time - learning how we express and manage our emotions and respond to the needs of others - that underpins the attributes which are key to success in the workplace.
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"Our resilience, flexibility, ability to manage stress and remain motivated when facing challenges, are all shaped by the foundations we build in early childhood.
"However, not enough emphasis is placed on social and emotional development or on building environments which nurture these skills, during childhood and beyond.
"Parental wellbeing is the biggest single factor in determining a child's wellbeing, and we know that becoming a parent places additional pressure on mental health.
"Nearly 75 percent of people find parenting under-fives stressful."
The future Queen said she believes two things need to be done.
She said: "The first is to prioritise creating working environments that provide the support people need to cultivate and maintain their own social and emotional wellbeing.
"The second is a more concentrated focus on the social and emotional development of our youngest children."
The Princess concluded: "So, over the coming months, the taskforce will look at the opportunity to put the early years at the heart of delivering the "social" element.
"While great work is being done by individual businesses, by being more co-ordinated across business and commerce, our impact could be far reaching.
"As the world becomes ever more complex, we have to invest in early childhood now, as a down payment for our collective future.
"If business and commerce embrace this significant issue - including how better early childhoods will affect their own organisations both now and in the long term - we can and will transform lives for generations to come."
Earlier this week, Kate joined the inaugural meeting of the taskforce, whose members include Unilever, Ikea, NatWest and Lego, an initiative which follows the launch of her Shaping Us project, described as her "life's work" and aimed at raising the profile of youngsters' early years development.