Is Universal Child Care Universally Beneficial?
Nobel laureate James Heckman recently made waves among early childhood advocates when he said he is not, and never was, a supporter of universal pre-K.
In this episode, Katharine Stevens — a resident scholar at AEI specializing in early childhood development — joins Ian and Naomi for a riveting discussion on James Heckman’s research and the case for providing targeted, high-quality care to disadvantaged children over universal pre-K.
Later, Naomi, Ian and Katharine discuss how regulatory burdens could be favoring child care centers over home-based providers during this crisis, and why that is a problem.
Show notes:
0:52 | James Heckman’s recent interview and the economics of human potential
4:00 | Why universal pre-K would not benefit all children
5:20 | The high-intensity, high-quality programs for disadvantaged children
8:20 | Why the optimal early learning environment for most children is their own home
9:30 | The trade-off between parental labor force participation and childhood development
11:20 | Regulatory pressures on home-based child care centers during the pandemic
13:00 | The benefits of home-based child care settings
15:40 | The importance of teaching young children about stable family structure and family formation
See Also
Article ~ April 27, 2021
Op-Ed ~ April 9, 2021
Blog ~ April 14, 2021