Socioeconomic and Regional Inequalities in Early Childhood Development in Algeria: Evidence from the MICS-6 Survey

Early childhood development is increasingly recognized as a central dimension of child well-being and an essential component of child indicator frameworks used to monitor social progress. The objective of this study is to examine disparities in early childhood development in Algeria using nationally representative data from the 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The analysis covered all children aged between 36 and 59 months included in the database and used the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) as the main assessment criterion. Using complex sample logistic regression models, the total and direct associations between socio-economic factors and developmental status were assessed. A directed acyclic graph (DAG) guided covariate selection and informed the distinction between total association models and models adjusting for hypothesized mediating pathways (nutritional status and home stimulation). Interaction between household wealth and place of residence was also examined. Among the 6,146 children listed, 76.8% were developmentally on track. Data analysis showed strong wealth-related gradients: children in the poorest quintile had significantly higher odds of being not developmentally on track compared with those in the richest quintile. These disparities persisted after adjusting for maternal education, child characteristics, nutritional status, and home stimulation. Stunting was independently associated with developmental vulnerability, while book reading was associated with lower odds of developmental delay. Significant regional disparities were identified. Moreover, the association between wealth and developmental status varied by place of residence, indicating spatial heterogeneity in socioeconomic gradients. These findings demonstrate that early childhood developmental inequalities in Algeria are shaped by both structural socioeconomic disadvantage and geographic context. Investing in early childhood development as an equity-sensitive child indicator may support more targeted policies addressing household-level disadvantage and territorial disparities not only in Algeria but throughout North Africa.