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Understanding the impact: The effects of Head Start on mothers' labor-force participation

Description:
The United States Department of Health and Human Services emphasizes a holistic approach to early childhood education and family development in its Head Start programming for low-income families. Head Start, since its inception, has been the subject of rigorous evaluation and analysis. Nearly all of the analysis, however, has focused on children's cognitive and social development. In this paper, I assess the role Head Start plays in parents' labor-force decisions. Using data from the Head Start Impact Study (HSIS), a randomized longitudinal study of first-time Head Start applicants, I develop and estimate a model for the labor-force participation of low-income mothers with access to Head Start. I observe increased labor-force participation rates among HSIS mothers randomly assigned access to Head Start for both cohorts, which dissipate when the child reaches kindergarten age. The positive labor-force outcomes were most pronounced among subgroups of mothers with the greatest relative economic disadvantage before Head Start, while the most well-off subgroups decreased their labor force participation after receiving access to Head Start. (author abstract)
Resource Type:
Reports & Papers
Author(s):
Country:
United States

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