ECONOMIC BENEFITS
Economic Benefits of Quality Early Childhood Programs
Reliable, high-quality early education and care arrangements reduce employee turnover and lower absenteeism.
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“Any proposed economic development list should have early childhood development at the top. The return on investment from early childhood development is extraordinary, resulting in better working public schools, more educated workers and less crime.”
—Art Rolnick & Rob Grunewald,
Early Childhood Development: Economic
Development with a High Public Return
Cost of School for Young Children in Massachusetts
For infant:
$20,913 a year
($1,743 a month)
For a 4-year-old:
$15,095 a year
($1,258 each month)
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), child care is affordable if it costs no more than 7% of a family’s income. By this standard, only 5.4% of Massachusetts families can afford infant care.
Massachusetts Early Educators Pay, 2017
“Well over 40% of early childhood educators qualify for public assistance. Those in the field with bachelor’s degrees are the lowest paid college graduates. These conditions contribute to high turnover, which is the exact opposite of what is necessary for the type of consistency and bonding that needs to occur for children to thrive in the earliest stages of life.”
—Rhian Evans Allvin,
CEO of the National Association for the
Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
