THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
HECKMAN: INVESTMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS YIELDS ROBUST RETURNS (2016)
August 16, 2023
(last updated on November 19, 2023)
PUBLISHED ON DEC 13, 2016
High-quality early childhood development programs can deliver an annual return of 13 percent per child - "comparable to returns on a savings account or the stock market" - according to new research by Nobel laureate James Heckman and scholars at the University of Chicago and the University of Southern California. The findings were released December 12 in a working paper titled “The Lifecycle Benefits of an Influential Early Childhood Program,” which shows that these programs can reduce taxpayer costs, improve economic outcomes for parents, and provide lifelong benefits for children. Read full story »