Age 26 Cost–Benefit Analysis of the Child-Parent Center Early Education Program
Open accessAbstract
Using data collected up to age 26 in the Chicago Longitudinal Study, this cost-benefit analysis of the Child-Parent Centers (CPC) is the first for a sustained publicly funded early intervention. The program provides services for low-income families beginning at age 3 in 20 school sites. Kindergarten and school-age services are provided up to age 9 (third grade). Findings from a complete cohort of over 1,400 program and comparison group participants indicated that the CPCs had economic benefits in 2007 dollars that exceeded costs. The preschool program provided a total return to society of $10.83 per dollar invested (18% annual return). The primary sources of benefits were increased earnings and tax revenues and averted criminal justice system costs. The school-age program had a societal return of $3.97 per dollar invested (10% annual return). The extended intervention program (4-6 years) had a societal return of $8.24 (18% annual return). Estimates were robust across a wide range of analyses including Monte Carlo simulations. Males, 1-year preschool participants, and children from higher risk families derived greater benefits. Findings provide strong evidence that sustained programs can contribute to well-being for individuals and society.
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The median ROI for wider determinants interventions was 5.6.
“The median ROI was 5.6 (range 1.119 to 10.820) with a median CBR of 7.1”
From Return on investment of public health interventions: a systematic review (2017) · cites this paper as [20]
The Results (Cost-Benefit Estimates; page unavailable) report returns for the Child-Parent Center program’s components, not a median ROI across wider determinants interventions. Searches for the stated median, range, and CBR found no passage in our copy reporting those figures. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Reynolds, A. J., Temple, J. A., White, B. A. B., Ou, S.-R., & Robertson, D. L.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Chicago Public Schools (US)
- Corresponding author
- Reynolds, Arthur J
- Venue
- Child Development
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2011-01-01
- Volume
- 82
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 379-404
- ISSN
- 0009-3920 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-8624
- PMC
- PMC3817956
- OpenAlex
- W2136687084
- Cited by
- 341
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 137.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Child Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD034294)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
- Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
- Keywords
- Child-Parent Center, early childhood education, cost-benefit analysis, social reintegration, low-income households, preschool programs, earnings, tax revenue, criminal justice costs, Chicago Longitudinal Study
- MeSH terms
- Achievement, Adolescent, Adult, Chicago, Child, Child Welfare, Child, Preschool, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Crime, Education, Education, Special, Female, Financing, Government, Humans, Income, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Poverty, Prospective Studies, Remedial Teaching, Cohort Studies, Outcome Assessment, Health Care, Early Intervention, Educational, Young Adult, Translational Research, Biomedical
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