The Long-term Effects of Charity Nurseries: Evidence from Early 20th Century New York

Philipp Ager and Viktor Malein
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Viktor Malein: Lund University

No 263, Working Papers from European Historical Economics Society (EHES)

Abstract: The paper evaluates the long-run impact of charity nurseries for disadvantaged children in early 20th-century New York. Access to charity nurseries with kindergarten instruction raised children’s years of education and reduced their likelihood of working in low-skilled jobs later in life. Instead, exposed children were more likely to work in jobs requiring higher cognitive and language skills. The effects were strongest for children from the most disadvantaged immigrant groups at that time. Our findings suggest that kindergarten instruction in charity nurseries helped immigrant children better understand teachers’ instructions and learning materials which improved their economic outcomes in adulthood.

Keywords: Age of Mass Migration; Charity Nurseries; Child Care; Disadvantaged Children; Kindergarten Instruction; New York City (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I26 J13 J15 N31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 67 pages
Date: 2024-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-his, nep-inv, nep-lab, nep-mac, nep-mig and nep-ure
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https://www.ehes.org/wp/EHES_263.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: The Long-Term Effects of Charity Nurseries: Evidence From Early 20th Century New York (2024)
Working Paper: The Long-term Effects of Charity Nurseries: Evidence from Early 20th Century New York (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hes:wpaper:0263

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