Our Most Important Investment: The Education of Our Future Generation

Just last month the Department of Health and Human Services released $2 billion in supplemental “stimulus” funding for child care, and it has begun to release $2.1 billion in funding for Head Start.  These funds will help states cope with increasing demand for services as a result of the recession.  More importantly, however, they are the first major investment in a decade in our most important resource—our future generation. As parents I don’t need to tell you that the experiences that a child has during the first five years of life are essential to that child’s success in school and into adulthood. Approximately 70% of brain development occurs by age three, and 90% by age five. By nine months children begin to develop a sense of their own capabilities to accomplish new and challenging tasks. And by the time children reach five years-of-age they have developed the cognitive, linguistic, social and emotional foundation on which all future development depends. There is a brief window of opportunity in each child’s life to support the development of the formative skills needed for success in school and in later life. And we, as parents and as a society, have the ability and responsibility to help each child develop his or her full potential by ensuring that our children are nurtured and supported in their development during their earliest years.

Investing in our youngest children not only benefits the children and families themselves, but there is now conclusive evidence that high quality early childhood education yields overwhelming economic benefits. A 2005 study by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, found that every dollar invested in early childhood education leads to a return of $2.62, as well as additional benefits to the state, such as reduced crime and greater international competitiveness. A 2007 study by the Economic Policy Institute calculated the return on a targeted program at $12.10. And in what has become one of the most cited studies on the economic impact of early childhood education, Nobel Laureate James Heckman found that the return on an investment in high quality early childhood education could be as much as 17%. All combined, these studies suggest that our society has not only a moral imperative, but also a financial one to support working families or any parent who wants their child to participate in high quality early childhood education programs.

What can you do to help? First and foremost, never take for granted the importance of your interactions with your child, even when you may not see the immediate benefits of your actions. For example, vocabulary development among infants and toddlers depends on the child’s language experiences during those critical years—so talk to your child as much as possible and give them early exposure to books and oral language. And you have an equally important role in becoming an advocate for improved social policy and funding in support of early childhood education. Reach out to your local and national representatives to let them know that you support continued investments in early childhood education to ensure the success of each individual child and of our nation as a whole. We need to make sure that when the stimulus funding runs out, that we continue to meet the need for early care and education.  As we look to the future in these trying times, the long term hope for a sustainable  economic recovery depends investments in our greatest natural resource and our most vulnerable citizens—all of our children.