Hearing: Joint Economic Committee-"Investing in Young Children Pay Dividends: the Economic Case for Early Care and Education"
Statement
JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE HEARING:
"INVESTING IN YOUNG CHILDREN PAYS DIVIDENDS:
THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR EARLY CARE AND
EDUCATION"
Opening Statement of Senator Charles E. Schumer
June 27, 2007
I want to thank my colleagues, Senator Bob Casey and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney for
taking the initiative to hold this hearing on an issue of long-term national consequence.
We all recognize that an educated society is a healthy and successful one, and American
education must start with quality early care and preschool.
In the stock market, they tell you to buy low and sell high. Most economists would agree
that the same can be said of early child care and education. With the right investment by
federal, state and local governments, the stock of our future generations will pay off in a
very big way for the health of families and our economy.
Quality child care improves employee productivity and reduces absenteeism and employee
turnover. Affordable, quality care and preschool has been shown to promote female labor force
participation, increase parent productivity, and keep parents in the work force.
Children who participate in high-quality preschools are more likely than their peers to graduate
from high school and enroll in college. They are less likely to be in special education classes,
become pregnant, engage in criminal activity as teenagers, or pursue other risky behaviors like
smoking.
Successes extend into adulthood, with higher earnings and employment rates, lower crime rates,
and less reliance on public assistance.
Unfortunately, quality care and preschool are not available to all of American families. Even for
middle class families, quality child care can be a tremendous burden. Center-based care for two
young children can cost $20,000-$26,000 annually. That is equal to about 40% of the median
income for families with children.
We do not expect parents to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for education for school-aged
children. We should not expect them to spend $20,000 a year on quality care or preschool. Our
children should be receiving the best education and the best care from day one, not just when
they enter kindergarten.
Federal assistance to middle and lower class families is dangerously inadequate and we must
begin to tell working parents that we want them and their children to succeed. Only one in seven
children eligible for child care assistance through the Child Care and Development Block Grant
currently receives assistance. The current level of funding for Head Start, the federal
government's largest commitment to preschool education, is sufficient to serve less than half of
the eligible population.
The families who could most benefit from high-quality care and education - and the children
who are most at risk of engaging in behaviors that will be very costly to society - are least able
to afford high-quality programs.
In New York, 29% of 4-year olds are enrolled in state funded preschool programs. But only 1
percent of 3-year-olds are enrolled. And New York is on the better end of the spectrum for early
education programs - 12 states don't have state-funded preschool programs for any ages and 24
don't have any programs for 3-year-olds.
Government assistance can help to close the gap between what parents can afford and what high-
quality programs cost so that more of American children can participate in the highest quality
programs from New York to Kansas to California.
I want to thank Senator Casey and Congresswoman Maloney once again for their leadership on
this issue. And we are all very grateful to our fine panelists, especially Professor Heckman in
from Chicago and Governor Kathleen Sebelius from Kansas.
I am looking forward to learning from our witnesses today how we can support early learning
programs and assist our families in getting the best care and education for all of our nation's
children.
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