"Research shows that high-quality early childhood programs lead to income gains of 1/3 to 3.5 percent each year when the children are adults," write Thomas Ehrlich and Ernestine Fu in their April 1, 2015 Forbes Magazine article, "The Sooner the Better: Early Childhood Education, A Key to Life-Long Success."
"That may not seem like much," they continue, "but compounded, the higher earnings account for between $9,000 and over $30,000 when the program costs are subtracted. Viewed nationwide, if all families were able to enroll their children in pre-school programs at the same rate as high-income families do now, the total enrollment nationwide would increase by around 13 percent and would yield a present value of at least $4.8 billion – some estimates approximate this number as high as $16.1 billion – from the lifetime earnings per person after deducting the costs of the program. High-quality early childhood education programs provide long-term benefits that far outweigh the costs."
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Comments (2)
Displaying All 2 CommentsPennsylvania, United States
Regarding Francis's comment, what is the actual definition for 'high quality early childhood education programs'? Do we have a universal understanding of that term? To me, it means children cared for, conversed with, provided opportunities to explore, engage and play. It does not mean sitting and learning letters and numbers as if they were grade school children. All children need and deserve adults who care for them and protect them. Adults who provide food and shelter and help the children to make sense of the world around them. Parents, of course, are the main and most important influence but the daycare centers must focus on the care and development of the child--in all aspects, and not just on their cognitive abilities. Also, I think it's hard to make the case for better pay for early childhood teachers when as a society we seem to frown upon stay at home parents--as though they are wasting their actual abilities to leave their jobs to take care of kids. Just my personal observation.
CSBC
Denver, CO, United States
It is critically important to note this piece uses the phrase, "high quality early childhood education programs." The central component of any high quality early childhood program is the staff. Most teachers and other staff in our programs do not receive adequate pay, benefits, and continual training. Until we address this glaring problem, it is really difficult to talk about the impact of early childhood programs.
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