Finding #1: Australians hold multiple mindsets about the early years. 

All the mindsets we measured in the survey — even those that seem contradictory — are held by the Australian public, albeit to varying degrees. For example, people hold Family Bubble (the idea that parents are entirely responsible for children’s development and wellbeing) and It Takes a Village (the idea that responsibility for children’s development and wellbeing is shared among a network of actors in a community) mindsets to similar degrees, even though they are contradictory and lead people to different conclusions when thinking about who’s responsible for children’s outcomes.

This underscores the importance of framing and using communications to foreground and background different mindsets. Developing framing strategies that selectively activate certain mindsets is key to expanding collective responsibility and building greater public recognition that what surrounds children and families shapes their wellbeing.