Marketplace cites research on intergenerational cost-benefit analysis of early childhood education

Highlighting recent research on the long-lasting benefits of the Perry Preschool Project, an American Public Radio Marketplace story made the case Investing in early childhood education is an effective way to create a more equitable society. The story cited research from Jorge Luis García, Frederik H. Bennhoff, Duncan Ermini Leaf, and James Heckman that used real life-cycle data on program participants, their siblings, and their children to produce more accurate estimates of the return on investment of such programs.

“If you take the intergenerational and intragenerational effects into account, they conservatively estimate [that] the program generates $9 of benefits for every $1 that’s invested in it,” said Marketplace senior economics contributor Chris Farrell. “the message from real world experience and research is plain: If you want to build a more equitable society, then investing more, a lot more, into early childhood education targeted at vulnerable lower-income children is the way to go.”

Read or listen to Marketplace story.