title: An evaluation of the investment for child development in China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study estimated the investment in child development from three aspects-public health, public education, and family investment to establish the level of investment, to provide reference information for government decision making and to provide international comparisons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Public investment in health was measured with macro data related to public health spending and child development in government expenditure. Public education investment was based on basic education data. Family investment evaluation was based on per capita family consumer spending data in different age groups to estimate the input for child development.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both public health investment level and the proportion of GDP rose for all age groups over time, but the overall investment level was still insufficient. Public investment in children's education has increased year by year, but the trends in all age groups are unbalanced with much lower investment in early childhood education. Private investment in children has increased over the period, but has declined as a percentage of GDP. International comparisons show that Chinas investment in child development is much lower than OECD countries.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The private investment in child development was the main way in China, with public finance contributing only a small proportion. Given the poor international comparisons, the government needs to review the balance of public investment to redirect more towards the development of children under the age of six to their health and education.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Population Research/WHO Collaborating Center on Reproductive Health and Population Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. xzheng@pku.edu.cn
authors.forename: Xiao Ying
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Chun Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Cheng Li
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: You Li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Qian Deng
authors.initials: QD
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult