Universal Preschool Lottery Admissions and Its Effects on Long-Run Earnings and Outcomes

Randall Akee and Leah Clark

Working Papers from U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies

Abstract: We use an admissions lottery to estimate the effect of a universal (non-means tested) preschool program on students� long-run earnings, income, marital status, fertility and geographic mobility. We observe long-run outcomes by linking both admitted and non-admitted individuals to confidential administrative data including tax records. Funding for this preschool program comes from an Indigenous organization, which grants Indigenous students admissions preference and free tuition. We find treated children have between 5 to 6 percent higher earnings as young adults. The results are strongest for individuals from the lower half of the household income distribution in childhood. Likely mechanisms include high-quality teachers and curriculum.

Keywords: Children; Preschool; Returns to Education; Native Americans; Long-Run Outcomes; Income; Employment; Earnings; Wage Level (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 I21 I24 I26 J24 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2023-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-lma and nep-ure
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https://www2.census.gov/library/working-papers/2023/adrm/ces/CES-WP-23-09.pdf First version, 2023 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cen:wpaper:23-09

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