THE BENEFITS OF EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT PROQRAMS An Economic Analysis

Abstract

This paper provides a framework for estimating the economic of early child development (ECD) programs and applies it to preliminary data from the PIDI project in Bolivia. Economic benefits refers first to the monetary value of the in health, nutritional status, and cognitive and social development that accrue to the children who enroll in ECD programs. To these we need to add to the mother and other family members, to the neighborhood in which the children centers operate, and to society as a whole. A major objective of ECD programs is to prepare young children for enrollment in primary school. Many of the of ECD therefore are realized through improved enrollment and schooling achievements of ECD graduates. We take advantage of this in our evaluation. Borrowing from the literature on the economics of education, we base part of our analysis on the assumption that one of the objectives of ECD programs is to increase children's chances to become productive citizens. Productivity in this regard is defined broadly to include productivity in the marketplace as well as home production. The latter manifests itself in the relationship between, for instance, higher mother's education and children's health and nutrition status. We quantify the of increased lifetime productivity as a result of ECD enrollment. We also discuss additional from education, but quantification is difficult. Not all of ECD programs are education-related. There are direct to the child (e.g., meals provided at the ECD centers) and indirect to society (e.g., greater community participation or lower future fertility rates). We try to catalog all but, again, are not always able to place a dollar value on them. Based on the we can quantify, our preliminary results for Bolivia show that ECD programs that are (1) well targeted and (2) have a major impact on school enrollment and achievement are excellent economic investments. We also argue that if one adheres to some modest notion of social justice, ECD programs should be subsidized (or provided free of charge) for children who are born and grow up in the most deprived segments of society.

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