Ms Kendall said children from the poorest backgrounds are already 15 months behind their peers when they start primary school.
They have a "super" nanny, although, as Watson recognises, "the logistics will get harder" as Juliet will start primary school in the autumn.
One-third of children do not attend the requisite hours of preschool, meaning they start primary school on the back foot, the report from Victoria University's Mitchell Institute says.
Hardship associated with poverty affects learning even before children start primary school, and those who encounter difficulties early on face an uphill struggle to catch up.
Of every 100 Brazilian children who start primary school, only 57 go on to finish secondary school and just 14 enroll in higher education.
More than one in five children are overweight or obese when they start primary school, rising to more than a third when they leave.
"The evidence shows it's the poorest children who are more likely to start primary school already behind, and who are then much more likely to struggle in school, and in life".
The alarming rise noted in the 1990s may have levelled off in the past 10 years, but still one in 10 kids in England are obese by the time they start primary school.
I believe passionately that bilingualism can be a help, not a hindrance.' At the same time, work on their English gives them a huge advantage when they start primary school.
"Just last week, new figures confirmed that over a fifth of children are overweight or obese by the time they start primary school, and a third by the time they reach year six," it said in a statement.
But with a quarter of children overweight or obese when they start primary school, rising to a third by the time they leave at age 11, more and more are developing the chronic condition.
