Who Gets an Early Education? Family Income and the Enrollment of Three‐ to Five‐Year‐Olds from 1968 to 2000^*

Abstract

Objectives. Has inequality in access to early education been growing or lessening over time? Methods. Using the October Current Population Survey education supplement from 1968 to 2000, we look at three-, four-, and five-year-olds' enrollment in early education-including center-based care, Head Start, nursery school, prekindergarten, and kindergarten. Results. Our analysis shows a strong link between family income and early education enrollment for three-and fouryear-olds, especially when we compare the bottom two and the top two income groups. These differences remain even after controlling for a large variety of factors, including race/ethnicity, maternal employment, family structure, and parental education. Conclusions. Inequality in early education by income group varies by age of child: it is most pronounced for three-year-olds, who have been the least likely to benefit from public early childhood education programs; it has diminished in the past decade for four-year-olds, who have been increasingly likely to have access to public prekindergarten programs; and it has all but disappeared for the five-yearolds, who now largely attend public kindergarten. This pattern suggests a potentially important role for public policy in closing the gap in early education between children of different income groups.Early care and education of children is expensive. The price of private child care and preschool programs is so high that some have likened it to the burden of funding a college education. Yet, financial aid for early education is limited. With increasing awareness of the importance of early schooling for academic success, the link between family income and ability to pay for a n

Structural and process features in three types of child care for children from high and low income families

“…Higher income families use more center care and less care in family child care homes or care by relatives than do lower-income families (Bainbridge, Meyers, Tanaka, & Waldfogel, 2005;Capizzano & Adams, 2004;Early & Burchinal, 2001;Fuller, Kagan, Caspary, & Gauthier, 2002; NICHD ECCRN, 2004). Parents with low incomes are, however, more likely to use center-based care when subsidies and other policies promoting center care are made available to them Fuller et al, 2002;Weinraub, Shlay, Harmon, & Tran, 2005).…”

“…Children from low-income families are more likely to experience care by relatives and care in family child care homes and are less likely to be in center care than children from high-income families (Bainbridge et al, 2005;Capizzano & Adams, 2004;Early & Burchinal, 2001;Fuller et al, 2002; NICHD ECCRN, 2004). Earlier evidence suggests that the quality of care received by low-income children, particularly in relative care and family child care homes, is lower than the care higher-income children receive.…”

Educación parvularia chilena: efectos por género y años de participación

“…La investigación en educación de la primera infancia ha demostrado la importancia de las diferencias sociodemográficas entre los niños que asisten a la educación inicial y los que no lo hacen, es decir, la presencia de un sesgo de selección (Bainbridge, Meyers, Tanaka & Waldfogel, 2005;Kagan, 2009). El presente estudio también muestra evidencia de este sesgo de selección en la participación en la educación parvularia.…”

Too much too soon? An analysis of the discourses used by policy advocates in the debate over kindergarten

“…By the 1990s, kindergartens were nearly universal in public schools across the country and many states were developing prekindergarten programs for 4-year-olds (Bainbridge at al., 2005). Moreover, many states were extending kindergarten programs to from part-day to full-day.…”