Background

After the death of James Bulger in 1993, Doreen Goodman wrote to the Guardian Newspaper, asking for support for her view that his young killers were victims too. She maintained that children who have their emotional needs met early in life are unlikely to become murderers. The response from readers was overwhelming and, in March 1993, Doreen, with Susannah Clasen and others, founded What About The Children?, a charity to promote awareness and understanding about the importance of the emotional needs of babies and young children.

The aim of the charity is to provide a voice for babies and children aged 0-3, with particular emphasis on their emotional needs and development. We do this by:

• Providing information from research to parents, professionals and politicians about the critical importance of secure primary attachment for the healthy emotional development of infants.
• Campaigning for employers and financial institutions, government and the health service to institute or improve policies and practices that give practical support to families with young children.
• Campaigning for tax and child benefit systems that would enable parents to have a realistic choice to be the main carers for their children during the first three years