The Minneapolis Fed has released a brief that describes the socioeconomic disparities in early childhood programs across the states and also highlights why education investments in early childhood care would in fact yield positive long term results in the economy. See excerpt below.
“Early childhood development programs are rarely portrayed as economic development initiatives, and we think that is a mistake. Such programs, if they appear at all, are at the bottom of the economic development lists for state and local governments. They should be at the top. Most of the numerous projects and initiatives that state and local governments fund in the name of creating new private businesses and new jobs result in few public benefits. In contrast, studies find that well-focused investments in early childhood development yield high public as well as private returns.
Originally published on March 1, 2003 by Arthur J. Rolnick and Rob Grunewald, regional economic analyst.
Read the full brief here.
