The Economic Development Effects of Early Childhood Programs

Publication Date: January 2008

Publisher:

Author(s): Timothy J. Bartik

Research Area: Economics; Education; Labor

Keywords: job creation; earnings creation; economic development; early childhood programs

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

This report provides new estimates of the job creation and earnings creation effects of three early childhood development programs. These three programs intervene in the lives of disadvantaged children from birth to age 5, in an attempt to improve the quality of their child development and thereby improve eventual adult economic outcomes. The job creation and earnings creation effects of these three programs are compared with previous estimates of the job creation and earnings creation effects of another early childhood program, half-time universal preschool for 4-year olds, and of subsidies to business (for example, property tax abatements) to promote job growth. The job creation and earnings creation effects that are considered include both short-run and long-run effects.