Work

Adult outcomes of sustained high-quality early child care and education: Do they vary by family income?

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Experimental research demonstrates sustained high-quality early care and education (ECE) can mitigate the consequences of poverty into adulthood. However, the long-term effects of community-based ECE are less known. Using the 1991 NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 994; 49.7% female; 73.6% White, 10.6% African American, 5.6% Latino, 10.2% Other), results show that ECE was associated with reduced disparities between low- and higher-income children's educational attainment and wages at age 26. Disparities in college graduation were reduced the more months that low-income children spent in ECE (d = .19). For wages, disparities were reduced when children from low-income families attended sustained high-quality ECE (d = .19). Findings suggest that community-based ECE is linked to meaningful educational and life outcomes, and sustained high-quality ECE is particularly important for children from lower-income backgrounds.

Source: Child Development

DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13696

Authors: Andres S Bustamante, Eric Dearing, Henrik Daae Zachrisson, Deborah Lowe Vandell

Institutions: University of California, Irvine, Boston College, University of Oslo

Language: English

Topic: Early Childhood Education and Development

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, No poverty, Good health and well-being, Quality education

Open Access status: green