Can Early Childhood Intervention Programs Reduce the Risk of Poverty?

Chicago’s Child-Parent Center Preschool-to-Third Grade program is an early education intervention aimed at improving economic and academic success for children from at-risk backgrounds. A study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota examined the effects of the intervention on the long-term economic well-being of the program’s participants. The researchers followed up with former students from some of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods, who had participated in the intervention 30 years prior. Researchers found that four to six years of early educational intervention contributed to significant economic benefits in early adulthood and reduced the likelihood of living in poverty. Specifically, researchers found that the average incomes of intervention participants were 25 percent higher than those who did not participate, and participants were 50 percent more likely to make more money than their peers. READ MORE