Early Childhood Education and Life-cycle Health

Jorge Luis Garcia () and James J. Heckman ()
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James J. Heckman: The University of Chicago

No 2020-011, Working Papers from Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group

Abstract: This paper forecasts the life-cycle treatment effects on health of a high-quality early childhood program. Our predictions combine microsimulation using non-experimental data with experimental data from a midlife long-term follow-up. The follow-up incorporated a full epidemiological exam. The program mainly benefits males and significantly reduces the prevalence of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and mortality across the life-cycle. For men, we estimate an average reduction of 3.8 disability-adjusted years (DALYs). The reduction in DALYs is relatively small for women. The gain in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) is almost enough to offset all of the costs associated with program implementation for males and half of program costs for women.

Keywords: early childhood education; life-cycle health; long-term forecasts; program evaluation; randomized trials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 I10 I28 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-exp, nep-for, nep-hea, nep-ltv and nep-ure
Note: ECI
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Garcia ... lifecycle-health.pdf First version, February 28, 2020 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Early childhood education and life‐cycle health (2021)
Working Paper: Early Childhood Education and Life-cycle Health (2020)
Working Paper: Early Childhood Education and Life-cycle Health (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hka:wpaper:2020-011

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