What is the Added Value of Preschool for Poor Children? Long-Term and Intergenerational Impacts and Interactions with an Infant Health Intervention

Författare
Rossin-Slater, M. & Wüst, M.
År
2020

Syfte

The study investigates the impact of access to kindergarten on children from low-income families in a life-cycle perspective and across generations.

Resultat

The study found that access to kindergarten resulted in more children attending kindergarten and that children who attended kindergarten were more likely to take education beyond primary and lower secondary school than those who did not attend kindergarten. The kindergarten children also had an increased likelihood of higher salaries later in life than the children who did not attend kindergarten. The study also indicates that high-quality kindergartens can compensate for some of the potential negative health effects of being born into a low-income home. Good kindergarten provision for low-income families can therefore be a good socio-economic measure.

Design

The study focuses on the period 1933 to 1960 in Denmark (individuals born between 1930 and 1957 and their children). The study has collected data material from publicly available information about individuals, such as life expectancy, hospital admissions and diagnoses, from documentation of public activities, such as publicly initiated measures for childcare and kindergarten development during the time period, and demographic information, such as changes in population, number of live births and stillbirths in a given area.

Referenser

Rossin-Slater, M. & Wüst, M. (2020). "What is the Added Value of Preschool for Poor Children? Long-Term and Intergenerational Impacts and Interactions with an Infant Health Intervention". American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 12(3):255–286.

Uppdragsgivare

Independent Research Fund Denmark, Denmark