Group-Based Early Childhood Education and Daycare Reduces the Intergenerational Transmission of Low Academic Achievement

• In Event: Non-Parental Child Care: An International Perspective on Behavioral and Academic Outcomes

Abstract

Background: Low school preparedness is linked to high school dropout, poor employment, and negative outcomes. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) may increase school readiness and foster academic achievement. While the impact of targeted ECEC interventions in is shown positive for children’s social and cognitive development, the role of ECEC available to the general population (community ECEC) is less clear. Accounting for parental selection in ECEC enrolment, we explored whether ECEC attendance was associated with academic achievement at the end of compulsory schooling (age 16 in the UK), whether maternal education level was a moderator, and the benefit-cost ratio of ECEC as regards productivity returns of academic achievement.
Methods: We conducted a cohort study linking the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), to the UK National Pupil Database for examination results. Academic achievement was defined as no certificate, Level 1 (limited training), or Level 2 (qualification for academic post-16 education). We used propensity score weighting for covariates and representativeness.
Findings: Of 14,541 ALSPAC children, 8936 youths had complete data on ECEC attendance, academic achievement, and maternal education level. On average, 3.7%, 5.9%, and 90.4% attended ECEC full-time (>30 hours/week), part-time (10-30 hours/week), and minimally (<10 hours/week), respectively. The probability of no certificate fell from 28.6% (95%CI: 26.9-30.3) to 19.9% (95%CI: 17.6-22.3), a 30.4% relative reduction, when children of low-education mothers attended ECEC. For higher maternal education levels, the probability was <10%, regardless. For children of mothers with lower education, the benefit-cost ratios of ECEC attendance were 1.42 (95%CI: 0.86—1.97) and 1.79 (95%CI: 1.05—2.51) for the offspring to reach a Level 1 and 2 qualification, respectively.
Interpretation: Evidence suggests that ECEC attendance is associated with higher academic achievement at the end of compulsory schooling for children of mothers with lower education, and that subsidizing ECEC attendance would yield economic benefits in the long run. However, only returns on the labour market have been accounted for in the present study. Increasing educational attainment may also contribute to health, civic implication, and other personal dimensions. Promoting universal ECEC with facilitated access for children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds deserves to be considered as a way to remove social barriers and reduce the intergenerational transmission of low social capital.

Authors

• Marie-Pier Larose, University of Turku
  Presenting Author

• Catherine Haeck, Université du Québec à Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author

• Isabelle Ouellet-Morin, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author

• Edward D Barker, King’s College London
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sylvana M Côté, Université de Montréal (UdeM)
  Non-Presenting Author