Session: Early Care and Education Programs and Child and Family Wellbeing (Society for Social Work and Research 30th Annual Conference Anniversary)

Children in the U.S. do not have equitable opportunities, particularly in the first five years of life. This is concerning because developmental disparities in early childhood tend to widen over time, resulting in larger gaps in adult outcomes, such as earnings. Recognizing this, the U.S. government has increasingly invested in publicly funded early care and education (ECE) programs, such as Head Start, state pre-kindergarten (pre-k), and child-care subsidy programs, over the past three decades. However, the level of investment still falls short of that for older children (Davis & Sojourner, 2021).

Publicly-funded ECE programs increase children's access to affordable and higher-quality childcare and some ECE programs improve children's development. However, further research is necessary to build more rigorous evidence on the returns to public investments in ECE using broader sets of outcomes that could impact children's wellbeing in both the short and long term. This panel includes four papers that assess the role of public ECE in improving family dynamics (e.g., parent-child time) and early adversity (e.g., child abuse and neglect) in the short run, as well as education, health, and criminal behavior in the long run. This panel also considers program impacts on marginalized populations, including mothers with precarious employment, low-income families, and ethno-racial minorities.

The first two papers consider the role of government ECE spending amount. The first paper examines how state-level spending on Head Start, state pre-k, and child-care subsidy programs interacts with mothers' work schedules to shape time spent with their child. Findings suggest that mothers who work nonstandard hours (e.g., evenings or nights) spend less time engaging in educational activities with their child when their child participates in Head Start or state pre-k than mothers who work daytime hours. The second paper examines associations between two categories of state preschool spending and child maltreatment. This study finds that state-only funding is correlated with lower maltreatment rates, particularly pre-pandemic, whereas all-reported funding shows a positive correlation. This may reflect differences in how funding is allocated, administered, or targeted across states.

The last two papers focus on the effects of availability of, or participation in, ECE programs. The third paper investigates the association between NYC's universal pre-k (UPK) and Child Welfare System involvement. Using an event study design, this paper finds that the UPK availability reduces total investigations and neglect investigations (but no impacts on abuse) among 4-year-olds, with disproportionate impacts on Black and Hispanic populations. The fourth paper investigates the impact of Head Start participation on children's long-run outcomes. Using a sibling fixed-effects model, this study shows that the benefits of Head Start increase over time, finding positive impacts on children's health status and college enrollment among low-income families.

Overall, this panel contributes to the work-family policy literature. By examining policies both at the federal- and at the local-level, the four papers provide timely evidence that local, state, and federal policymakers could use to advocate for greater investments in ECE programs. Two researchers with expertise in ECE programs and child outcomes will discuss the papers.