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Giving children a better start: preschool attendance and school-age profiles

Author

Listed:
  • Samuel Berlinski

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Inter-American Development Bank)

  • Sebastian Galiani

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Washington University in St Louis)

  • Marco Manacorda

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Queen Mary University of London and CEP (LSE))

Abstract

We study the effect of pre-primary education on children's subsequent school outcomes by exploiting a unique feature of the Uruguayan household survey (ECH) that collects retrospective information on preschool attendance. A rapid expansion in the supply of pre-primary places over the last decade generates sufficient variation in the data to warrant identification. Using a within household estimator that only exploits differences in exposure across siblings, we find small gains from preschool attendance at early ages that magnify as children grow up. By age 16, children that attended preschool have accumulated more than 1 extra year of education and are 27 percentage points more likely to be in school compared to their siblings with no preschool education. We speculate that early grade repetition harms subsequent school progression and that pre-primary education appears as a successful policy option to prevent early grade failure and its long lasting consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel Berlinski & Sebastian Galiani & Marco Manacorda, 2006. "Giving children a better start: preschool attendance and school-age profiles," IFS Working Papers W06/18, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:06/18
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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