5 - Early Childhood Interventions

Economic Arguments for early childhood interventions (3)

Credit Constraints, Externalities, Information Problems

When do gaps in skill accumulation start

Early on

How can early gaps in skill accumulation be prevented

Early investments

What efficiency-equity trade-off exists with early childhood interventions

There is no efficiency-equity trade off

What age range does current policy focus on

Key stage 12 and Higher education

What logical inconsistency exists with current policy focus

If you accept the paternalistic logic that the state knows best in Key stage 12 years, it should also apply even more strongle to early childhood which is arguably more influential

Examples of Early Interventions (6)

• Cash subsidies to the poor

• Formal Child-Care Centers

• Home visits

• Individual or Group Parenting Programs

• Nutrition Supplements/Health Checks

• Incentives for Prenatal Care

Who investigated gaps in test scores in early years (3)

• Carneiro-Heckman (2003)

• Cunha-Heckman (2010)

• Schady et al (2014)

What did Carneiro-Heckman (2003) and Cunha-Heckman (2010) find regarding gaps in early test scores

Big gaps stay persistent over later years

What did Schady et al. (2014) find

Gaps between the poorest and richest quartiles for very young people are similar between rural and urban areas and also persistent over later years

Who investigated differences in heard vocabulary between family status

Hart and Risley, 1995

What did Hart and Risley (1995) find regarding the number of words an average child hears in an hour

Children in professional families hear more than 3x of words that those in welfare families do

What did Hart and Risley (1995) find regarding the quality of words an average child hears in an hour

Those in professional families hear a lot more affirmatives (Encouragements) compared to prohibitions (e.g. No!, Shut up!)

What did Hart and Risley (1995) find regarding cumulative vocabulary at age 3

Children from professional families had a cumulatiev vocabulary around double that of those from welfare families

Who investigated how in-uteral interventions impact outcomes for children

Carneiro et al (2021)

What did Carneiro et al (2021) find regarding how in-uteral interventions impact outcomes for children

In-uteral interventions which are not that hard still have a big impact on outcomes

Who investigated famous early childhood interventions

Barnett (2003)

Which early childhood interventions did Barnett (2003) evaluate (3)

• Perry Pre-School Program

• Chicago Parent-Child Centers

• Abecederian

Was Perry Pre-School Program a randomised program

Yes - The treatment group was selected at random

Were the Chicago Parent-Child Centers randomised programs

No

What did Barnett (2003) find regarding the effects of early childhood intervention programs on IQ

Effects on IQ are small and basically nonexistent

Abecedarian program

An educational child care full-day year-round program in Chapel Hill, NC

What was the Maternal high school graduation rate in the Abecedarian program

Around 33% (2/3 are highschool dropouts)

What results did the Chicago Parent-Child Centers program produce regarding high school graduation

High school graduation increased by around 10%

What results did the Chicago Parent-Child Centers program produce regarding special education

Only 14% of those in the program required special education compared to 25% not in the program

What results did the Chicago Parent-Child Centers program produce regarding grade repeating

Only 23% in the program needed to repeat their grade compared to 40% of those not in the program

What results did the Chicago Parent-Child Centers program produce regarding juvenile arrest

Less of those in the program experienced juvenile arrest

How did IQ differ between the program and no-program group in the Perry Pre-School study

IQ increases a lot at first but after the program IQ starts falling and by age 10, there is no difference in IQ

How did Education (Special Education, 14yrs Achievement, Graduation) differ between the program and no-program group in the Perry Pre-School study

• Special Education - The program reduced those who needed special education by ½

• Age 14 Achievement at higher than the 10th%ile - A lot more people achieved higher than the 10th %ile in the program

• High school graduation - 20% more people from the program graduated

How did Earnings, ‘Own a home’, ‘Never on Welfare as an adult’ differ between the program and no-program group in the Perry Pre-School study

• Earnings - The program increased those who earn $2000 monthly by 4 times

• Own home - The program increased those who own a home by 3 times

• Never on welfare as an adult - Increased by double

How did arrests differ between the program and no-program group in the Perry Pre-School study

Those who took the program had ½ the arrests and those not on the program had arrests mainly driven by violent crime

What does the Perry Pre-School program indicate

IQ is not very plastic so didn’t have a maintained gain but other things were more plastic and sustained gains were made

How does the Abecedarian program compare to the Perry pre school program

It was more intense with it lasting for a full day, full year, for 5 years

How did IQ scores differ between the control and treated group in the Abecedarian program

The IQ effects remained

How did the Abecedarian program impact reading scores over time

There were big effects which persisted

How did the Abecedarian program impact math scores over time

There were big effects which persisted

How did the Abecedarian program impact mothers and children (3)

• A lot more teen moms were self-supporting

• Less smoked at age 21

• Around 30% more people had a skilled job or higher education at age 21

What did Carneiro and Heckman find regarding early childhood interventions and their impacts

There are small effects on IQ but large and lasting effects on achievement and noncognitive skills

Who presented a cost benefit analysis of the Perry Pre-School project

Carneiro and Heckman (2003)

What costs did Carneiro and Heckman (2003) measure for the Perry Pre School program

Costs of preschool

What benefits did Carneiro and Heckman (2003) measure for the Perry Pre School program (4)

• Decrease in cost to government of K-12 special education

• Decrease in criminal justice system costs of child’s criminal activity

• Income from child’s employment

• Decrease in tangible losses to crime victims

Overall did Carneiro and Heckman (2003) find perry pre school to be benefitting?

They found the benefits to massively outweigh the costs

What effect did Garcia, Heckman, Lead, Prados (2020) find that Perry pre school had on parental labour income

It increased parental labour income

What is the reason behind Garcia, Heckman, Lead, Prados (2020)’s discovery that perry pre-school increased parents labour income

Parents could work because kids went to pre school and didn’t stay at home

What did Barnett (2003) conclude about the programs he studied (2)

• They dramatically improved the life outcomes of disadvantaged children

• However the interventions were very high quality targeted to a very low number of severely disadvantaged children. Can the results be replicated at a larger scale?

Head Start

A large preschool program in the US serving disadvantaged children

How does Head Start compare to other early interventions in this module

Head Start is a much larger and less well funded program

Who studied the effects on test scores of Head Start

Currie and Thomas (1995)

What did Currie and Thomas (1995) find for effects of Head Start between while and black children (2)

• Large effects for white children but very small effects for black children

• Black people benefit from the program as much as white people do whilst enrolled but experience much larger fade out effects

What did Currie and Thomas (2000) believe for the reason test score effects of Head Start fade out for black people more

They attend lower quality schools after leaving the program than white people

Who studied the impact of Head Start on adult outcomes

Currie, Duncan and Garces (2000)

What did Currie, Duncan and Garces (2000) find regarding the impact of Head start

There were important effects on school achievement and crime for black people

Sure Start

Similar to head start but like Head Start

Who investigated Sure Start

Carneiro et al (2024)

What did Carneiro et al (2024) find regarding Sure Start (2)

• 20% higher test scores with 6 years of Sure Start

• Effect of Sure Start is biggest at age 11 and 16

What did Havnes and Mogstad (2015) find regarding full day care on rich kids

For kids who are rich, full day care may have a negative effect on earnings