Table 1.

How evidence-based parenting programs might help achieve the SDGs

	Potential approach	Expected outcome
SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere	EBPS can work alongside other poverty-reduction strategies to help parents develop the skills they need to nurture their children, provide early responsive parenting and stimulation to influence early neuroplasticity, and support children to be ready to learn and earn in school and in life, interrupting the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage	Children have enhanced vocabulary, positive parent–child relationship, secure attachment, greater readiness to start school, improving educational and economic outcomes
SDG 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture	EBPS can be combined with other public health initiatives to improve parents’ skills in adopting responsive feeding to optimise the use of available food to ensure good nutrition with available resources	Children have the best possible nutrition from available food sources
SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages	EBPS can foster the development of social and emotional skills in young children, improving their self-efficacy and resilience, the development of prosocial behaviours and positive relationships, and adoption of healthy lifestyles as adults	Children have the social, emotional and health competencies they need to support their long-term well-being
SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all	EBPS can support parents and early childhood educators to prepare young children to enter school with the language, social, and emotional skills that enable them to attend regularly, participate fully, and get the most out of their schooling; support parents of school-age children to communicate well with teachers and participate in their children’s education; and support teachers to collaborate with parents and promote positive parental engagement with schools	Children acquire the cognitive competencies including problem solving skills to become lifelong learners
SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls	EBPS programs should be designed to value both genders. They provide an opportunity to challenge gender roles and encourage teamwork in parenting, and the use of a self-regulation model encourages self-determination of parenting goals. This can empower parents to make changes in their own lives, not just in parenting, to promote gender equity in their own and their children’s lives	Girls grow up in households where parents have positive expectations for success at school, in relationships and life
SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all	EBPS can help reduce social inequalities by helping caregivers to promote school readiness and impart life skills (such as personal resilience, motivation and problem solving) for adult adjustment and well-being, to support them to contribute to the economy as part of a productive workforce	Children have the academic, intellectual and interpersonal skills they need to be work ready, while parents themselves gain from self-regulation skills in EBPS
SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation	EBPS, along with good schooling, can help promote capable, resilient, self-determining citizenry. These are the future workforce, who can innovate and become socially and environmentally conscious adults who are motivated to contribute to support change for a better world	Children develop personal agency and self-belief in their capacity to innovate and solve problems
SDG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries	EBPS is an investment in the future generation of parents and children that can disrupt the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage and promote equity across communities within countries and among nations. This requires broad reach and service availability across diverse populations	Children are supported with foundational skills that help them become contributing citizens
SDG 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels	EBPS can help reduce family violence and conflict by encouraging parents to adopt nonviolent ways of disciplining children and resolving family conflict. This is turn supports role modelling of non-violent problem-solving techniques allowing for the promotion of values of compassion and equality	Children develop social skills that involve sharing, turn taking, providing help and compassion to others in their social world