What is good for our children is also good for our economy.
Dec 20 2016 14:43
The early years in a child’s life are a critical period for brain development. This is why access to affordable, quality early child care and education programs are important for children and families as well as their communities and state – it benefits all of us.
However, new research from Nobel Laureate economist James J. Heckman
, reveals that access to affordable, quality early childhood programs benefits us more than previously thought. In a paper published last week, Heckman and his colleagues reveal that quality, early childhood programs that begin at birth, lead to significantly better life outcomes for children and yield an overall 13 percent annual return on investment.
This reaffirms much of what we already know: what is good for our children is also good for our economy.
Early research has always shown the positive impacts of early childhood programs on children, families and communities. The early years play a fundamental role in brain development – they lay the foundation for all future cognitive, social and emotional development. So when a child has access to programs that stimulate and nurture healthy development early on, they are more likely to show up to kindergarten ready to learn and experience better educational outcomes. Heckman’s new research takes these original findings much further.
In his new study, Heckman and his colleagues focused on children in programs from birth to age five and examined a number of life outcomes including, health, quality of life and income annually until the child reached age 35. The results revealed that children with earlier access to quality early childhood programs experience not just better short-term education outcomes but long-term life outcomes as well. And, when programs start earlier, the public return on investment is much higher, rising from 7-10 percent to 13 percent.
This is good news because when our children thrive, our state thrives. Our children will grow up to be our future leaders, workforce and parents. If we can ensure they have the resources, support and opportunities they need to succeed, our children can lead Maine into a prosperous future.
From Research to Results
Right now, over 67 percent of Maine children under the age of six have both parents in the workforce and are likely in need of child care. Unfortunately, the cost of high quality child care poses a challenge for many Maine parents. For example, a single median-income Maine parent spends an estimated 25 percent of their income on full-time, center-based child care for one child. This a is a problem that directly affects children and their parents but the evidence is clear that we all lose when children do not have access to early childhood programs. What we can learn from Heckman’s new research is that Maine stands to benefit greatly from improving and expanding access to quality, affordable early childhood programs. This includes:- improving access and affordability to high-quality, early child care programs;
- increasing the funding for Maine’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs; and,
- expanding Maine’s voluntary public preschool program.
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