Now more than ever, Americans see quality early childhood education as a necessity for today’s families and want the federal government to support states as they invest in new or expanded early childhood education programs.
A new report for the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) outlines the benefits of a large-scale national investment in early childhood education. EPI sites that such an investment would not only benefit our nation’s youngest learners, but their families, society as a whole and most importantly our economy.
“High quality child care and early childhood education has substantive, long-lasting benefits for children and for society writ large,” said Elaine Weiss, National Coordinator of the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education. “Kids that have had these opportunities early in life go on to do better in school and eventually do better in the labor market.”
The highlights of the report include an in-depth look at the benefits that stem from having more resources invested in the care and education of children in their early years, as well as the implications of affordable childcare for GDP in all 50 states. Specifically, an ECE investment would:
- Free up family resources and help women enter the work force, boosting GDP by as much as $210 billion.
- Increase wages for child care workers, who are among the least paid in the country
- $70 billion in additional annual funding through additional tax revenue and reduced government spending.
Learn more about the economic benefits of early childhood by reading the full EPI report here.