The Lasting Effects of Early Childhood Education on Promoting the Skills and Social Mobility of Disadvantaged African Americans

Jorge Luis Garcia (), James Heckman and Victor Ronda ()
Additional contact information
Victor Ronda: Aarhus University

No 14575, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper demonstrates multiple beneficial impacts of a program promoting inter-generational mobility for disadvantaged African-American children and their children. The program improves outcomes of the first-generation treatment group across the life cycle, which translates into better family environments for the second generation leading to positive intergenerational gains. There are long-lasting beneficial program effects on cognition through age 54, contradicting claims of fadeout that have dominated popular discussions of early childhood programs. Children of the first-generation treatment group have higher levels of education and employment, lower levels of criminal activity, and better health than children of the first-generation control group.

Keywords: racial inequality; intergenerational mobility; early childhood education; social mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 H43 I28 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2021-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hea, nep-isf, nep-lab, nep-ltv, nep-pke and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published - published in: Journal of Political Economy, 2023, 131 (6), 1477 - 1506

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Lasting Effects of Early Childhood Education on Promoting the Skills and Social Mobility of Disadvantaged African Americans (2021)
Working Paper: The Lasting Effects of Early Childhood Education on Promoting the Skills and Social Mobility of Disadvantaged African Americans (2021)
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