Early Childhood Education in United States

United States

For many, the path to higher educational attainment starts with early childhood education. Evidence shows that early along with higher educational attainment, early childhood education contributes to better health and promotes health equity. Typically, children who attend early childhood education programs have reduced rates of teen births and teen crime, improved standardized test scores and increased high school graduation rates.

Early childhood education is cost-effective — investing in early childhood education yields an estimated $4.19 for every dollar spent, primarily in the form of higher earnings.

The percentage of children ages 3-4 enrolled in early childhood education is higher among:

• White and Asian children compared with Hispanic children.
• Children with parents who are both employed compared with children who have one  parent who is unemployed. 
• Children of college graduates compared with children whose parents have less than a high school education.

Strategies to increase enrollment in early childhood education include: 

• Developing more funding sources for early childhood education that could provide coverage for disadvantaged children.
• Focusing on performance and outcome assessment to improve the effectiveness of programs.
• Providing more direct federal and state subsidies other than tax credits. 
• Ensuring effective use of funding for early childhood education by conducting cost-effectiveness analyses.

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends implementing high-quality, center-based early childhood education programs. These programs promote health equity and are associated with narrower educational achievement gaps, especially for children in low-income or racial/ethnic minority communities. For example, Head Start programs are federally-funded services that promote school readiness in children from low-income families. Children participating in Head Start programs are more likely to pursue and complete higher education.

A 2022 report from the National Council on State Legislatures provides a summary of early childhood education legislation enacted at the state level. The report addresses four primary areas: childcare subsidies and quality, workforce development, governance, and school readiness. It also reviews paid family and medical leave legislation, home visiting programs and mental health.

Healthy People 2030 has an objective to increase the proportion of children who participate in high-quality early childhood education programs.

Barnett, W. Steven, and Jason T. Hustedt. “Improving Public Financing for Early Learning Programs.” Preschool Policy Brief Issue 23. New Brunswick, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research, April 2011. https://nieer.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/24-1.pdf.

Community Preventive Services Task Force. “Recommendation for Center-Based Early Childhood Education to Promote Health Equity.” Journal of Public Health Management and Practice 22, no. 5 (2016): E9–10. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000000354.

Hahn, Robert A., W. Steven Barnett, John A. Knopf, Benedict I. Truman, Robert L. Johnson, Jonathan E. Fielding, Carles Muntaner, Camara Phyllis Jones, Mindy T. Fullilove, and Pete C. Hunt. “Early Childhood Education to Promote Health Equity: A Community Guide Systematic Review.” Journal of Public Health Management and Practice 22, no. 5 (2016): E1–8. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000000378.

Ramon, Ismaila, Sajal K. Chattopadhyay, W. Steven Barnett, and Robert A. Hahn. “Early Childhood Education to Promote Health Equity: A Community Guide Economic Review.” Journal of Public Health Management and Practice 24, no. 1 (2018): e8–15. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000000557.