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The Lasting Effects of Early Childhood Education on Promoting the Skills and Social Mobility of Disadvantaged African Americans

Author

Listed:
  • Jorge Luis Garcia

    (Clemson University)

  • James J. Heckman

    (The University of Chicago)

  • Victor Ronda

    (Aarhus University)

Abstract

This paper demonstrates multiple beneficial impacts of a program promoting intergenerational mobility for disadvantaged African-American children and their children. The program improves outcomes of the first-generation treatment group across the life cycle, which translates into better family environments for the second generation leading to positive intergenerational gains. There are long-lasting beneficial program effects on cognition through age 54, contradicting claims of fadeout that have dominated popular discussions of early childhood programs. Children of the first-generation treatment group have higher levels of education and employment, lower levels of criminal activity, and better health than children of the first-generation control group.

Suggested Citation

  • Jorge Luis Garcia & James J. Heckman & Victor Ronda, 2021. "The Lasting Effects of Early Childhood Education on Promoting the Skills and Social Mobility of Disadvantaged African Americans," Working Papers 2021-037, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:hka:wpaper:2021-037
    Note: ECI
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    File URL: http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Garcia_Heckman_Ronda_2021_lasting-effects-ece-skills-soc-mobility.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Heckman, James J. & Loughlin, Colleen P., 2021. "Are Student-Athletes Exploited?," IZA Discussion Papers 14857, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Jorge Luis García & James J. Heckman, 2022. "Parenting Promotes Social Mobility Within and Across Generations," NBER Working Papers 30610, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Gertler,Paul J.,Heckman,James J.,Pinto,Rodrigo Ribeiro Antunes,Chang-Lopez,Susan M.,Grantham-Mcgregor,Sally,Vermeersch,Christel M. J.,Walker,Susan,Wright,Amika S., 2021. "Effect of the Jamaica Early Childhood Stimulation Intervention on Labor Market Outcomes at Age 31," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9787, The World Bank.
    4. Randall Akee & Leah R. Clark, 2023. "Universal Preschool Lottery Admissions and Its Effects on Long-Run Earnings and Outcomes," Working Papers 23-09, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    5. Orlando Uccellini & Andrea Benlodi & Emanuele Caroppo & Loredana Cena & Gianluca Esposito & Isabel Fernandez & Maria Ghazanfar & Antonio Imbasciati & Francesco Longo & Marianna Mazza & Giuseppe Marano, 2022. "1000 Days: The “WeCare Generation” Program—The Ultimate Model for Improving Human Mental Health and Economics: The Study Protocol," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-11, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    intergenerational mobility; racial inequality; social mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate

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