Early Childhood Intervention and Life-Cycle Skill Development: Evidence from Head Start

David Deming

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2009, vol. 1, issue 3, 111-34

Abstract: This paper provides new evidence on the long-term benefits of Head Start using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. I compare siblings who differ in their participation in the program, controlling for a variety of pre-treatment covariates. I estimate that Head Start participants gain 0.23 standard deviations on a summary index of young adult outcomes. This closes one-third of the gap between children with median and bottom quartile family income, and is about 80 percent as large as model programs such as Perry Preschool. The long-term impact for disadvantaged children is large despite "fadeout" of test score gains. (JEL H52, J13, I28, I38)

JEL-codes: H52 I28 I38 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.1.3.111
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (261)

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