Effects of center‐based child care on disadvantaged children: Evidence from a randomized research design

Abstract This paper uses the random assignment of poor families to treatment and control conditions in the Comprehensive Child Development Program (CCDP) to estimate the effects of center‐based child care enrollment on child well‐being. Implemented in the early‐1990s, the CCDP aimed to improve child development and family functioning by offering those in the treatment group 5 years of high‐quality child care along with case management. As a result, treated children were substantially more likely to be enrolled in center‐based programs throughout the preschool‐age years, and I use this variation to estimate the impact of center care on children's language and social skills as well as health. I uncover mixed results: More time spent in center‐based settings improves language skills but reduces social skills in the short run, and both effects fade out for most children within 1 to 2 years. I also find that early center care use is strongly predictive of later Head Start enrollment, indicating that a more deliberate “family retention strategy” may be effective at extending children's exposure to high‐quality early education.