Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad logo

Desarro. soc. | eISSN 1900-7760 | ISSN 0120-3584

The effect of early education on child development: evidence from Uruguay

No. 84 (2020-01-01)
  • Noemí Katzkowicz
  • Martina Querejeta

Abstract

Investment in childhood is fundamental to healthy child development and positive long-term effects. This paper aims to analyze the impact of early education on child development, measured through: Ages and Stages Questionnaires - Third Edition (ASQ-3). The results are not homogenous for the studied population, and effects are not found when the total sample is considered. A negative and significant effect on gross motor skills was found for children under 40 months. For children over 40 months, the effect of early education on socioindividual tests and problem-solving tests is positive and significant. Early education policies are fundamental to contributing to the improvement child development.

Keywords: childhood, wellbeing, Uruguay

References

Ahnert, L., & Lamb, M. E. (2003). Shared care: Establishing a balance between home and child care settings. Child Development, 74(4), 1044-1049. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00587

Angrist, J. D., & Imbens, G. (1995). Identification and estimation of local average treatment effects. Econometrica, 62(2), 467-475. Recuperado de https://www.nber.org/papers/t0118

Angrist, J. D., & Pischke, J. S. (2009). Mostly harmless econometrics: An empiricist’s companion. Princeton, EE. UU.: Princeton University Press.

Baker, M., Gruber, J., & Milligan, K. (2008). Universal child care, maternal labor supply, and family well-being. Journal of political Economy, 116(4), 709-745. https://doi.org/10.1086/591908

Batthyany, K., Genta, N., & Perrotta, V. (2013). El cuidado de calidad desde el saber experto y su impacto de género: análisis comparativo sobre cuidado infantil y de adultos y adultas mayores en el Uruguay. Santiago de Chile, Chile: Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe. Recuperado de https://repositorio.cepal.org/handle/11362/5852

Berlinsky, S., & Schady, N. (Eds.) (2015). Los primeros años: el bienestar infantil y el papel de las políticas públicas. Banco Nueva York, EE. UU.: Interamericano de Desarrollo. Recuperado de https://publications.iadb.org/en/early-years-child-well-being-and-role-public-policy

Blau, D. M. (1999). The effect of income on child development. Review of Economics and Statistics, 81(2), 261-276. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465399558067

Blau, D. & Currie, J. (2006). Pre-School, day care, and After-School care: who´s minding the kids? Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier.

Cerutti, A., Duarte, D., Canetti Wasser, A. M., & Parafita, D. (2014). Políticas sociales para la infancia en el Uruguay con énfasis en las edades tempranas: propuestas de monitoreo del bienestar infantil. Montevideo, Uruguay: Universidad de la República.

Conti, G., & Heckman, J. (2012). Economics of child well-being. IZA, Discussion Paper, 6930.

Cunha, F., & Heckman, J. J. (2007). The technology of skill formation. American Economic Review, 97(2), 31-47. DOI: 10.1257/aer.97.2.31

Cunha, F., & Heckman, J. J. (2010). Investing in our young people. Working Paper, 16201.

Currie, J., & Thomas, D. (1995). Medical care for children: Public insurance, private insurance, and racial differences in utilization. Journal of Human Resources, 30(1), 135-162. DOI: 10.2307/146194

Drange, N., & Havnes, T. (2015). Child care before age two and the development of language and numeracy: Evidence from a lottery. IZA Discussion Paper, 8904.

Elango, S., García, J. L., Heckman, J. J., & Hojman, A. (2015). Early childhood education. IZA Discussion Paper, 9476.

Felfe, C., & Lalive, R. (2014). Does early child care help or hurt children’s development? IZA Discussion Paper, 8484.

Fletcher, J. M., & Wolfe, B. (2016). The importance of family income in the formation and evolution of non-cognitive skills in childhood. Economics of Education Review, 54, 143-154.

Grantham-McGregor, S., Cheung, Y. B., Cueto, S., Glewwe, P., Richter, L., Strupp, B., & International Child Development Steering Group. (2007). Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries. The Lancet, 369(9555), 60-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60032-4

Grupo de Estudios de Famillia. (2015). Salud, nutrición y desarrollo en la primera infancia en Uruguay primeros resultados de la Endis. Montevideo, Uruguay: Instituto Nacional de Estadística.

Haveman, R., & Wolfe, B. (1994). Succeeding generations: On the effects of investments in children. Nueva York, EE. UU.: Russell Sage Foundation.

Heckman, J. J. (1995). Lessons from the bell curve. Journal of Political Economy, 103(5), 1091-1120.

Heckman, J. J. (2000). Policies to foster human capital. Research in Economics, 54(1), 3-56. https://doi.org/10.1006/reec.1999.0225

Heckman, J. J. (2006). Skill formation and the economics of investing in disadvantaged children. Science, 312(5782), 1900-1902. DOI: 10.1126/science.1128898

Heckman, J. J., & Kautz, T. (2013). Fostering and measuring skills: Interventions that improve character and cognition. Working Paper, 19656.

Heckman, J. J., & Vytlacil, E. J. (2007). Econometric evaluation of social programs, part I: Causal models, structural models and econometric policy evaluation. Handbook of Econometrics, 6, 4779-4874. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1573-4412(07)06070-9

Hirano, K., Imbens, G. W., & Ridder, G. (2003). Efficient estimation of average treatment effects using the estimated propensity score. Econometrica, 71(4), 1161-1189. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0262.00442

Lefebvre, P., Merrigan, P., & Verstraete, M. (2006). Impact of early childhood care and education on children’s preschool cognitive development: Canadian results from a large quasi-experiment. Working Paper, 06-36. Recuperado de https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b0e4/662552cd8a4cc85f3d684c9a8c1543f3be25.pdf

Leight, J., & Liu, E. M. (2016). Maternal education, parental investment and non-cognitive skills in rural China. Working Paper, 22233.

Loeb, S., Bridges, M., Bassok, D., Fuller, B., & Rumberger, R. W. (2007). How much is too much? The influence of preschool centers on children’s social and cognitive development. Economics of Education Review, 26(1), 52-66.

Marco Navarro, F. (2014) Calidad del cuidado y la educación para la primera infancia en América Latina: igualdad para hoy y mañana. Santiago de Chile, Chile: Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe. Recuperado de http://repositorio.minedu.gob.pe/handle/123456789/3115

Ministerio de Desarrollo Social. (2014) Cuidados como sistema: propuestas para un modelo solidario y corresponsable de cuidados en Uruguay. Montevideo, Uruguay: Autor. Recuperado de www.sistemadecuidados.gub.uy/innovaportal/file/34676/1/cuidados_como_sistema.pdf

Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura. (2010). Llegar a los marginados. París, Francia, Autor: Recuperado de https://web.oas.org/childhood/ES/Lists/Recursos%20%20Bibliografia/Attachments/30/22.pdf

Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo. (2012). Evaluación de resultados e impactos del Plan CAIF. Montevideo, Uruguay: Autor. Recuperado de https://www.undp.org/content/dam/uruguay/docs/Pob/undp-uy-evaluacion-plan-caif-2013.pdf

Rosenbaum, P. R., & Rubin, D. B. (1983). The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects. Biometrika, 70(1), 41-55. https://doi.org/10.1093/biomet/70.1.41

Rossel, C. (2013). Desbalance etario del bienestar: el lugar de la infancia en la protección social en América Latina. Montevideo, Uruguay: Autor. Recuperado de https://repositorio.cepal.org/handle/11362/6190

Rubin, D. B. (1974). Estimating causal effects of treatments in randomized and nonrandomized studies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 66(5), 688-701.

Salas, G. (2016). Early childhood development, school attendance and parenting (Tesis doctoral, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, España). Recuperado de https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/tesis/2016/hdl_10803_400568/gosa1de1.pdf.

Squires, J., Twombly, E., Bricker, D., & Potter, L. (2009). Ages & Stages Questionnaires-3rd edition (ASQ-3). Baltimore, EE. UU.: Paul H. Brookes.

Urzúa, S., & Veramendi, G. (2011). The impact of out-of-home childcare centers on early childhood development. IDB Working Paper Series IDB-WP-240. Recuperado de https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/89092