From Investing in What Works for America's Communities
In a time of tight budgets, it is essential to understand true causality and to focus spending on what works. And years of research prove that early childhood health and early development of social and character skills are critical to upward mobility—even more so than early development of cognitive skills. The gap between rich and poor is increasing, which is unhealthy and economically counterproductive. A proven way to reduce this gap is to concentrate resources on reducing disparities in parenting resources early in a child’s development, including parental attachment, guidance and supervision, and the quality of schools and neighborhoods.
Author: Gabriella Conti and James J. Heckman, University of Chicago
Date of Publication: August, 2012
Last Updated: August, 2012