Can’t buy mommy’s love? Universal childcare and children’s long-term cognitive development

Abstract

What happens to children's long-run cognitive development when introducing universal high-quality childcare for 3-year-olds mainly crowds out family care? To answer this question, we take advantage of a sizeable expansion of publicly subsidized full-time high-quality childcare for 3-year-olds in Spain in the early 1990s. Identification relies on variation in the initial speed of the expansion of childcare slots across states. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we find strong evidence for sizeable improvements in children's reading skills at age 15 (0.15 standard deviation) and weak evidence for a reduction in grade retentions during primary school (2.5 percentage points). The effects are driven by girls and disadvantaged children.

Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Costs of Daycare 002 for Girls

“…(p. 101). Felfe et al (2015) reach the same conclusion using data from a similar expansion that took place in Spain during the early 1990s. Dustmann et al (2013) exploit a reform that entitled all German preschoolers to a childcare slot.…”

When Rationing Plays a Role: Selection Criteria in the Italian Early Childcare System*

“…The benefits were found to be large enough to close the scholastic achievement gap between children of high and low socio-economic status, and of native-born and immigrant parents. Felfe et al (2015) evaluated the long-run effects of a policy (implemented in the late 1990s) that introduced universal childcare for 3-year-old children in Spain. They compared the later cognitive outcomes of children who attended childcare with those of previous cohorts, and found a sizable increase in reading and math test scores, and a sizable decrease in the likelihood of falling behind a grade.…”

The role of preschool in reducing inequality

“…In Spain, a study of the expansion of high-quality preschool for three year olds in the early 1990s showed that preschool reduces grade retention in primary school and improves children's reading skills at age 15 [6]. The effects are largest for disadvantaged children and for girls.…”