Families Childcare & Early Education
Topic Childcare & Early Education

A growing body of evidence shows that investments in high-quality, affordable, and accessible childcare and learning are a key element of a healthy, growing U.S. economy. Research tells us that the ages zero to three are a critically important time for developing the wide range of skills necessary for future success. Equitable Growth is growing the evidence base for the demand side of the early education equation—what do families need and want for their children and themselves and what are the obstacles to access across the economic distribution—and the supply side of the equation—what does quality childcare look like, and how do we expand access to quality early care and learning jobs in a way that creates meaningful economic security for care workers?

Featured work

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Child care prices, inflation, and the end of federal pandemic-era aid in five charts

Families
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What is social infrastructure, and how does it support economic growth in the United States?

FamiliesLabor
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Factsheet: What the research says about the economics of the 2021 enhanced Child Tax Credit

FamiliesTax & Macroeconomics
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Advancing research and evidence on child care and U.S. economic growth

FamiliesInequality & Mobility
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The child care economy

Families
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Factsheet: What the research says about the economics of early care and education

FamiliesInequality & Mobility

Explore Content in Childcare & Early Education207

In Conversation

In Conversation with Janet Currie

FamiliesInequality & Mobility
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Economist Currie’s research on early childhood care and education highlights the need for a national childcare policy

Families
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Paid family and medical leave in the United States: A data agenda for practitioners

FamiliesInequality & MobilityLabor
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Paid Family and Medical Leave in the United States: A Data Agenda

FamiliesInequality & MobilityLabor
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Investments in early childhood education improve outcomes for program participants—and perhaps other children too

FamiliesInequality & Mobility
working paper

Short and medium run impacts of preschool education: Evidence from state pre-k programs

Families
report

Paid Family and Medical Leave in the United States: A Research Agenda

FamiliesInequality & MobilityLabor
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Universal childcare’s benefits might cover much of its costs

FamiliesTax & Macroeconomics
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Why current definitions of family income are misleading, and why this matters for measures of inequality

FamiliesInequality & Mobility
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Equity, efficiency and education spending in the United States

Families
working paper

Reducing inequality through dynamic complementarity: Evidence from Head Start and public school spending

Families
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Better understanding the importance of diversity in U.S. preschool programs

FamiliesInequality & Mobility
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