An economic argument for quality early care.
Multiple research studies, including work by the Nobel laureate economist James Heckman, show that investments in early childhood education are cost-efficient, improve children’s later education, health and economic outcomes and significantly decrease the use of future public dollars for special education, grade retention, incarceration and welfare.
Several long-term studies* point to the following benefits of quality early childhood education:
- School readiness by kindergarten
- Reduced special education costs
- Increased college attendance
- Reduced crime and delinquency
- Fewer teen pregnancies
- Increased high school graduation rates
- Increased adult employment and higher wages
Research shows that problems of crime, teenage pregnancy, high school dropout rates, and adverse health conditions can be traced to low levels of skill and social abilities such as attentiveness, persistence, and impulse control. When social skills are combined with cognitive skills at an early age, they help create more capable and productive citizens. Dr. Heckman’s studies have also shown a $7 to $10 economic return for every $1 invested in early care and education due to increased personal achievement and social productivity.
The State of Wisconsin is investing in quality early care through YoungStar.
In Wisconsin, there is a commendable history of bipartisan support for quality early childhood education. Legislators have supported a strong Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy program, effective Head Start programs and more recently, YoungStar – an innovative child care quality rating and improvement system.
YoungStar is a five-star rating system for child care providers based on education, learning environment, business practices, and the health and well being of children. Through this rating system, the state will address several key issues in Wisconsin's child care system. It will:
- Improve the overall quality of child care
- Create a clear, understandable tool for parents to choose quality child care
- Create incentives for providers to improve services, particularly for low-income children
- Establish a connection between child care quality and the rate of Wisconsin Shares payment
- Help prevent fraud in the Wisconsin Shares system
The role of private investment—you!
YoungStar began in January 2011 and is funded for two years through the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. The longer-term vision is a child care quality improvement system that is funded in part by the state and in part by the business and philanthropic community that benefits from what the project creates.
Your contributions will strengthen early childhood education in Wisconsin by directly impacting learning environments through the purchase of age-appropriate learning materials, teacher quality through funding of scholarships for continuing education, and business acumen by underwriting business plan training for child care business owners.
Your investment can be tailored to a geographic area or a particular part of an early childhood program that you value most. We look forward to continuing our conversation about how your investment can make the biggest impact on young children in our community.
* More about the studies
Courtesy of the First Five Years Fund – reprinted with permission The Abecedarian Project, based in North Carolina, was the first to track participants in an early learning program from infancy to age 21. The project, which followed 111 low-income African American families, demonstrated that young children who receive high-quality early education from infancy to age 5 do better in reading and math. They are more likely to stay in school, graduate from high school and attend a four-year college.
Children who participated in this early intervention program posted higher cognitive test scores from the toddler years to age 21. To read the executive summary, click here.
High/Scope Perry Preschool participants were, at age 40, more likely to have graduated from high school, make higher earnings, hold a job, and commit fewer crimes than those who didn’t attend this high-quality preschool program. In 1962, researchers began following 123 high-risk three- and fouryear-olds and their families in Ypsilanti, Michigan. More information on High/Scope Perry.
Chicago Parent-Child Centers, a highquality early learning program that served children beginning at age 3, demonstrated that participants did better in school and were less likely to drop out of high school, be arrested, repeat grades, or be placed in special education services. The study followed 989 students enrolled in 20 Chicago Parent-Child Centers. For a cost-benefit analysis of the program, go to http://www.waisman.wisc.edu/cls/cbaexecsum4.html.
