Prep School for Poor Kids: The Long-Run Impacts of Head Start on Human Capital and Economic Self-Sufficiency

Martha J Bailey; Shuqiao Sun; Brenden Timpe

doi:10.1257/aer.20181801

Prep School for Poor Kids: The Long-Run Impacts of Head Start on Human Capital and Economic Self-Sufficiency

Am Econ Rev. 2021 Dec;111(12):3963-4001. doi: 10.1257/aer.20181801.

Authors

Martha J Bailey¹, Shuqiao Sun², Brenden Timpe³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Economics, University of California-Los Angeles.
² The World Bank.
³ Department of Economics, University of Nebraska.

Abstract

This paper evaluates the long-run effects of Head Start using large-scale, restricted administrative data. Using the county rollout of Head Start between 1965 and 1980 and age-eligibility cutoffs for school entry, we find that Head Start generated large increases in adult human capital and economic self-sufficiency, including a 0.65-year increase in schooling, a 2.7 percent increase in high school completion, an 8.5 percent increase in college enrollment, and a 39 percent increase in college completion. These estimates imply sizable, long-term returns to investments in means-tested, public preschool programs.

Keywords: I21; I26; I28; I38; J24.

Abstract

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