Abstract

This paper seeks to argue against the universality of childhoods and also against the neoliberal notion that early childhood intervention is the way forward in our attempt to combat poverty. In the first paragraph of this paper I will bring out the ideas held on Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) in the North especially USA. The second part of this paper will deal with the reasons why early childhood interventions are deemed to be important and as purported by the World Bank and other neoliberals why early childhood interventions offer the best key to combat poverty in the South. The third part will seek to refute the ideas held on early childhood behaviour in the North by bringing out how Early Childhood Care and Development is viewed in the South. In the final part of this paper I will argue against the popular neoliberal view that early childhood interventions offer the best way to poverty eradication in the South.