Report finds that children who attend high-quality early education programs are more likely to graduate from high school, enroll in college and have higher lifetime earnings

 

With America investing less in early education as a share of its economy than most advanced economies, Klobuchar lays out policy proposals to bolster early childhood education

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senate Chair of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, today released a report that laid out the economic benefits of investing in early childhood education. Klobuchar’s report found that investing in early childhood education results in a large return on investment. The report finds that children who attend high-quality early education programs are more likely to graduate from high school, enroll in college and have higher lifetime earnings. They are less likely to be in remedial education classes or be juvenile offenders. The benefits extend into adulthood, with higher employment rates, lower crime rates and lower rates of reliance on public assistance.

 

“Every child, in Minnesota and across the country, deserves access to high-quality early education,” said Klobuchar. “My report makes clear that investing in our young people is not just the right thing to do, it pays dividends for our nation’s prosperity, reduces inequality and helps us compete in the global economy. This is one of many issues on which Republicans and Democrats can and should find common ground to move our country forward.”    

Klobuchar’s report discusses several policy steps Congress can take to help provide high-quality early education to more American children. One is the Klobuchar-backed Strong Start for America’s Children Act, which would establish a formula grant program for states to provide universal, voluntary prekindergarten. Grant amounts would be based on the share of four-year-olds in a state living at or below 200 percent of the poverty line.   

 

To maximize the gains from improving access to high-quality early education, the report also highlights the need to strengthen programs across the spectrum of child development and education. This includes prenatal programs for expecting mothers, infant nutrition programs, child care programs, Head Start and Early Head Start.

 

Additional findings from Klobuchar’s report include:

 

•      The share of three- to five-year-olds in the United States enrolled in early education programs rose from just 27 percent in the mid-1960s to 64 percent in 2000, but there has been little progress since. Per-child spending for state-funded pre-kindergarten programs declined by more than $1,000 over the course of the last decade. Three-year-olds in the European Union are about twice as likely as American three-year-olds to be enrolled in early education.

  

•    The likelihood that a child raised in one income group will move to a different group as an adult is lower in the United States than most advanced economies. Investing in early education can be particularly effective at increasing opportunity. Research shows that differences in investment in education—with higher-income families investing more and lower-income families investing less—account for approximately one-half of the lack of economic mobility across generations.

 

• By the time they enter kindergarten, many children from low- and moderate-income families are already struggling to keep up. According to one study, children in families at or above 200 percent of the poverty level—who are more likely to attend prekindergarten programs—score 38 percent higher on math exams and 30 percent higher on reading exams than children who live in poverty.

 The full report can be found here.

 The Joint Economic Committee (JEC) is a bicameral Congressional Committee composed of ten members from each the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are ten Democrats and ten Republicans on the Committee. The main purpose of the JEC, which was established by the Employment Act of 1946, is to continually study matters relating to the U.S. economy. The Committee holds hearings, performs research and advises Members of Congress.

 

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