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Source: Committee for Economic Development
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Heckman, James J. |
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Investing in Disadvantaged Young Children is an Economically Efficient Policy Presented: New York, NY, Committee for Economic Development/The Pew Charitable Trusts/PNC Financial Services Group Forum on "Building the Economic Case for Investments in Preschool", January 10, 2006. Also: http://www.ced.org/docs/report/report_2006prek_heckman.pdf Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79 Publisher: Committee for Economic Development Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Childhood Education, Early; Cognitive Ability; Disadvantaged, Economically; I.Q.; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Skill Formation Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. This paper presents an efficiency argument for publicly funded investment in disadvantaged young children. Why should society invest in disadvantaged young children? The traditional argument for doing so is made on the grounds of fairness and social justice. It is an argument founded on equity considerations. There is another argument that can be made. It is based on economic efficiency. It is more powerful than the equity argument, in part because the gains from such investment can be quantified and they are large. There are many reasons why investing in disadvantaged young children has a high economic return. It is a rare public policy initiative that promotes fairness and social justice and at the same time promotes productivity in the economy and in society at large. Investing in disadvantaged young children is such a policy. Early interventions for disadvantaged children promote schooling, raise the quality of the workforce, enhance the productivity of schools and reduce crime, teenage pregnancy and welfare dependency. They raise earnings and promote social attachment. Focusing solely on earnings gains, returns to dollars invested are as high as 15-17%. |
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Bibliography Citation
Heckman, James J. "Investing in Disadvantaged Young Children is an Economically Efficient Policy." Presented: New York, NY, Committee for Economic Development/The Pew Charitable Trusts/PNC Financial Services Group Forum on "Building the Economic Case for Investments in Preschool", January 10, 2006. |