The impact of pre-school on adolescents’ outcomes: Evidence from a recent English cohort

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between attendance at pre-school school and children's outcomes into early adulthood. In particular, we are interested in: child cognitive development at ages 11, 14 and 16; intentions towards tertiary education; economic activity in early adulthood; a group of non-cognitive outcomes such as risky health behaviour; and personality traits. Using matching methods to control for a very rich set of child and family characteristics, we find evidence that pre-school childcare moderately improves results in cognitive tests at age 11 and 14, and 16. Positive effects are especially noticeable for girls and children from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Results for non-cognitive outcomes are weaker: we do not find any significant evidence of improvement in psychological well-being, petty crime involvement, or on almost all health behaviours. While the cognitive effects may well serve to reduce lifecycle inequalities there is no support here for other important social benefits. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public.IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author.IZA Discussion Paper No. 6971 October 2012 ABSTRACTThe Impact of Pre-school on Adolescents' Outcomes: Evidence from a Recent English Cohort * This paper investigates the relationship between attendance at nursery school and children's outcomes in adolescence. In particular, we are interested in child cognitive development at ages 11, 14 and 16, intentions towards tertiary education, economic activity in early adulthood, and in a group of non-cognitive outcomes, such as risky health behaviours (smoking, early pregnancy, use of cannabis) and personality traits (feelings and commitments about school; psychological well-being). Using matching methods to control for a very rich set of child's and family's characteristics, we find that pre-school childcare largely improves results in cognitive tests at age 11 and 14 and 16, and has a positive effect on intentions towards further education and economic activity at age 19-20. Positive effects are especially noticeable for children coming from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.Results on non-cognitive outcomes are more mix...

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“…Therefore our treatment covers a wide variety of extra-familial care arrangements, which are subject to some quality regulations (see section 3) (for the same approach in the UK context, see e.g. Goodman/Sianesi 2005 andApps et al 2013). From a methodological point of view this definition allows us a large enough sample of children in day care and a clear distinction between treatment and control group.…”

“…assumption of a linear relationship compared to OLS. Propensity Score Matching has also been used in several recent papers that investigate the determinants of child outcomes in the economic literature (e.g., Berger et al 2005, Goodman/Sianesi 2005, Ruhm 2008, and Apps et al 2013). …”