Prep School for Poor Kids: The Long-Run Impacts of Head Start on Human Capital and Economic Self-Sufficiency

Martha Bailey, Shuqiao Sun () and Brenden Timpe

No 28268, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper evaluates the long-run effects of Head Start using large-scale, restricted 2000-2018 Census-ACS data linked to the SSA’s Numident file, which contains exact date and county of birth. Using the county rollout of Head Start between 1965 and 1980 and age-eligibility cutoffs for school entry, we find that Head Start generated large increases in adult human capital and economic self-sufficiency, including a 0.65-year increase in schooling, a 2.7-percent increase in high-school completion, an 8.5-percent increase in college enrollment, and a 39-percent increase in college completion. These estimates imply sizable, long-term returns to public investments in large-scale preschool programs.

JEL-codes: I2 I24 J6 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
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Published as Martha J. Bailey & Shuqiao Sun & Brenden Timpe, 2021. "Prep School for Poor Kids: The Long-Run Impacts of Head Start on Human Capital and Economic Self-Sufficiency," American Economic Review, vol 111(12), pages 3963-4001.

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Journal Article: Prep School for Poor Kids: The Long-Run Impacts of Head Start on Human Capital and Economic Self-Sufficiency (2021)
Working Paper: Prep School for Poor Kids: The Long-Run Impacts of Head Start on Human Capital and Economic Self-Sufficiency (2021)
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