From Resources to Routines: The Importance of Stability in the Developmental Environment

Posted by Harvard University Center on the Developing Child on June 30, 2026

Beginning before birth, children’s health and development are shaped by a constellation of influences in their developmental environment—the full range of experiences and exposures in the places where they live, grow, play, and learn.

Stability is an essential part of a healthy developmental environment, and promoting stability across the web of influences in children’s lives offers a vital opportunity to support early development and lifelong health. Strengthening stability in one area—such as housing, caregiver relationships, or financial security—can have a multiplier effect across other parts of a child’s environment.

The decisions we make as a society can help promote or derail stability in the communities where caregivers are raising young children, including policies that may at first glance seem far removed from young children—such as zoning laws, labor policies, and climate response. Over time, these decisions have created an unfair distribution of both adversity and opportunity across communities, leaving some families more likely to experience instability than others. Yet when children encounter instability, stabilizing their situations can improve behavior and support cognitive and emotional development.  Designing policies and programs that create, maintain, and restore stability can help strengthen the foundations for healthy development.  

Read more and download the report.