Human Potential
The return on investment in high quality early care and education is not only calculated in dollars and cents. The return in terms of human potential, although not as readily quantifiable, can be just as far reaching.
What does economics tell us about early childhood policy? Advantages accrued during children’s earliest years compound over the course of their lives. Learning begets learning, and children’s motivation to succeed generates its long-term momentum from their earliest experiences. Investments in human capital made in the wake of high quality early childhood environments yield significant child outcomes.
Early childhood programs strengthen family environments, reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect, decrease the number of persons entering the criminal justice system, increase graduation rates and college attendance, improve participation in the labor force, and enhance personal earning potential.
