Federal and State Investments in Early Childhood and Parent Outcomes

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Federal and state governments play a central role in shaping early childhood systems in the United States via the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), Head Start, and public pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs producing substantial cross-state and local variation in access to and investment in early care and education (ECE). States drive their own investments in pre-k programs and hold significant discretion over federal programs, such as the CCDF, resulting in wide variation across states. Head Start grantees, which include state and local organizations, similarly have discretion over program features that determine the amount and type of services children and families receive. These differences across programs create distinct state and local policy environments that influence not only children’s access to ECE, but also how parents organize care, allocate time, and participate in the labor market. While research has shown that publicly-funded programs increase children’s access to ECE, less is known about how these policies shape parents’ time allocation and parenting behaviors. Because the home environment is one of the most important inputs into young children's development, understanding the effects of publicly funded ECE programs on parents and parenting behaviors is critical to identifying their potential benefits.

Aligned with APPAM’s theme, “Fifty States, Fifty Systems,” this panel examines how state and local variation in publicly-funded ECE programs influences parental outcomes, integrating evidence across multiple domains of family life. By combining quasi-experimental analyses of state policy variation with experimental evidence from a national program, the panel contributes to the discussion of how policy environments shape parents’ time allocation and parenting behaviors and, ultimately, child development.

Pilarz leverages variation in state-level public spending on child care subsidies and early education programs (i.e., Head Start and state pre-k) to estimate effects on mothers’ time use, including time spent with children, work, sleep, and leisure.

Karoly and Coe analyze how state investments targeting infant and toddler care under the Child Care and Development Fund affect maternal labor force participation. The study identifies which state strategies most effectively expand access to care and support employment, with heterogeneity by child age and family characteristics.

Cha, Weindling, Rosengarten, and Jenkins focus on state pre-k and examine whether public early education programs substitute away or complement developmentally supportive parental activities at home.

Gibbs and Azzinnaro use the Head Start Impact Study, a large-scale randomized control trial, to examine how participation in Head Start affects parenting practices and how program features, such as parent engagement and home visiting, moderates impact on families.

Together, these papers conceptualize ECE policy as a set of federal- and state-driven systems that shape parents’ behavior along multiple aspects—parenting practices, time allocation, and labor supply. The panel will highlight how heterogeneity in policy design and investment levels across states can lead to different family responses, and will discuss implications for evaluating policy effectiveness when parental behavior is endogenous to policy environments.

Policy Area

• Family and Child Policy

Chair

• Taryn W. Morrissey, American University

Discussants

• Greg J. Duncan, University of California, Irvine

• Anna Gassman-Pines, Duke University

Organizer

• Eunho Cha, University of California, Irvine

Individual Presentations

• Publicly-Funded Early Care and Education Programs and Mothers’ Time Use - Presenting Author: Alejandra Ros Pilarz, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• The Effect on Maternal Employment of State Investments and Practices to Subsidize Infant and Toddler Care - Presenting Author: Lynn A Karoly, RAND Corporation

• State Pre-k and Parental Time Investments at Home - Presenting Author: Eunho Cha, University of California, Irvine

• In Partnership with Parents: Measuring Head Start Effects on Parenting Practices - Presenting Author: Chloe R Gibbs, University of Notre Dame