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...State University. The study was sponsored by Success by 6, partnership of business, government, nonprofit, education and community organizations working toward improving the lives of children.
From a purely economic perspective, enriched early care programs for young children (e.g., up to age 5) represent an investment with a very high return. Children who participate in enriched early childhood programs are more successful in school and earn more income throughout their working lives. They are also less likely to impose costs on others, both in terms of classroom disruption and grade retention when they are young or by engaging in antisocial or criminal behavior later when they become adults.
In the absence of any public policy toward early care and education, however, the nation is likely to seriously underinvest in its children. In surveys, working parents commonly report that they find it difficult to judge the quality of child care programs. One useful role for public policy, then, is to assist parents in obtaining information about the quality of early care programs. Another case for public policy in child care involves affordability. Parents who lack the financial resources to pay for high quality care may not be able to finance what could prove to be an investment with a high return. Another important argument for public support of early care and education involves externalities that may be associated with negligent care of young children. Children who do not understand how to get along in society impose costs on others in the form of crime and higher taxes.
The government has taken on an increasingly important role in helping families with child care expenses, especially low-income families. Federal government support of child care through the Child Care and Development Fund, Head Start, the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and other programs increased from $2.8 billion in 1980 to $19.8 billion in 2000. States are also taking on a greater responsibility for meeting the child care needs of low-income families.
Despite the recent increase in government support of child care, many programs remain underfunded. Head Start, the public preschool program for disadvantaged children, now serves over 900,000 children at a cost of $6.3 billion per year. However, there are more than 400,000 children nationwide who meet eligibility requirements but are not served because of insufficient funding. At the local level, the Arizona Department of Economic Security estimates that the number of working adults who are eligible for child care assistance but are on a waiting list will reach over 14,000 by mid-2004.
In response to these funding issues and in recognition of the value of early childhood education, Governor Janet Napolitano in her 2004 State of the State address announced new initiatives to improve access to and delivery of high quality child care. Following programs that have been successful in North Carolina, the governor has proposed (1) an increase in state funding of existing programs so that all eligible children and families can be served, and (2) a rating system of licensed child care centers that could help families judge the quality of a given program.
This article reviews national studies that have been influential in persuading educators, economists and other interested parties of the high value of early childhood education. The article also provides a cost-benefit analysis of a hypothetical early care and education program for Arizona. The program analyzed is one that is most easily connected to national studies, not the one proposed by the governor nor necessarily one that is best suited to Arizona. The hypothetical program is used simply to illustrate the size and nature of the economic return to investing in education for young children.
EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAMS
Since the early 1960s, there have been dozens of childhood enrichment programs aimed at helping disadvantaged...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
have been removed from this article.
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