Heymann – comparable data

All of our countries can benefit from truly comparable data. Now each of us may want to compare our experiences to different groups. So we may think that the country’s experiences who are most relevant to us are those in our region. They could be those who are in our income group. They could be those who share political systems or societal structures to ours. But we can always benefit from looking at other countries that we think are truly comparable in saying what are they doing that works? And as well as sharing what are we doing that works. Because of that having information across countries on basic issues. Do mothers have paid leave; do fathers have paid leave? Can breastfeeding breaks be taken? How affordable is early childcare; how is it made affordable? What nutrition programs are there? What programs are there to support parents and other caregivers in stimulating children? That allows us to look at who’s getting the most successful outcomes and what can we learn from those successes. Now, of course, each of our countries and in fact each of our states or provinces will also have some questions that are very specific to our local circumstances. So it’s important to add that kind of data and information that allows us to answer our local questions at the same time.