How Pre-K Investments Can Support Working Families

Let me give you a word salad: Obamacare, social policy, economic risk, government role in the economy, failure.  Aren’t we supposed to be reconsidering the notion that social policy can effectively do anything, let alone help our economy grow?

Well, in the midst of that storm, Congress just launched a bipartisan bill to establish one of President Obama’s legislative priorities.  On November 13, members of Congress from both parties announced—with help from Jennifer Garner—a bill that would provide pre-K spots for all American 4-year-olds from families at or below 200% of the poverty line.

In sum, early childhood programs save mom and dad money, get them back to work faster, and help them make more money—all of which cuts down on child poverty and further improves outcomes for children who are also getting quality instruction in the early childhood program.

We know that high-quality pre-K is enormously important schooling. It provides students with an academic foundation for the K–12 years (and adulthood). Students in effective early education programs are less likely to drop out of high school before graduating, need special education services, or repeat grades during the K–12 years. Once they’re adults, these students are often less likely to be arrested, have children out of wedlock, or go on public welfare. They earn more money and incur fewer costs to public institutions (and social programs). It offers outstanding bang for the buck. You’ve probably heard that line of argument before. It’s become a staple for economists and social scientists studying and writing about early education. What, they ask, is the return on investment for money spent on pre-K?

But that’s not the only way to look at pre-K programs. In addition to these long-term effects,  pre-K programs offer parents a safe, subsidized environment for their children. This saves many parents money on private child care and allows parents who would otherwise stay home to rejoin the workforce. As I put it in a Daily Beast article today:

[Public investments in early childhood education] could make it possible for at-home parents to return more quickly to the workforce and generate more economic activity to help pay for public pre-K’s costs. These present benefits may even have long-term consequences of their own, since research shows that increases in family income propagate increases in children’s future earnings. In sum, early childhood programs save mom and dad money, get them back to work faster, and help them make more money—all of which cuts down on child poverty and further improves outcomes for children who are also getting quality instruction in the early childhood program.

Some pre-K advocates cringe at this line of argument. Many of them have spent decades arguing that pre-K is school, not just babysitting. There’s no question that they’re right.

But this isn’t a zero-sum game. Public investment in high-quality pre-K does two things simultaneously: it drives student academic growth and supports working families. It is, in short, the best deal in town—even in a town that scarcely believes in making any social investments anymore.

Read the Daily Beast article here."