5 Reasons the Importance of Early Childhood Education Is Impossible to Ignore

Conversations about the importance of early childhood education (ECE) have been circulating for quite some time. But more and more studies are coming to light that reveal potential learning disparities between students who reaped the benefits of early childhood education and those who didn’t.

With the nationwide childcare shortage and legislative efforts to divert more funding toward early childhood education, ECE is in the spotlight—more than ever.

Educators, politicians and parents are active participants in these discussions as our nation is in search of the best educational opportunities for its smallest citizens. Early childhood education important research highlights that a child's early years establish a critical foundation, not just for school and the workforce, but also for social and emotional health throughout a child's life.¹

As more research adds up, the importance of early childhood education is hard to ignore. And it’s frustrating to see barriers in the way of better funding and support for this critical stage of kids’ lives.

But as someone who cares about children, you’re here to advocate—and we’re here to help you make that case. We’ve done this by compiling information from several studies about the profound impact of ECE on young learners and society at large.

If you've been looking for a quick way to explain why you're so passionate about early childhood education, read on, and spread the word.

5 reasons to pay attention to early childhood education

If you love children, you probably don't need much convincing on the importance of early childhood education. But how much does it matter? Is it worth investing in?

Some seem to think not. The United States falls significantly behind other countries in our enrollment, investment and quality of ECE resources.

The U.S. ranks low among other developed nations (32nd out of 37 countries) in terms of public spending on early education, according to the American Federation of Teachers.²

Similarly, we don’t rank very high for the percentage of young children enrolled in programs before the age of 5. Between October 2010 through October 2021, average enrollment in ECE programs lags behind other countries, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.³

• 50 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds
• 86 percent of 5-year-olds

Rates of enrollment in early education for all these age groups have yet to return to their pre-pandemic levels.³

1. Neglecting ECE is causing an expensive childcare crisis

What we don’t value becomes apparent when a crisis hits. The pandemic exposed a lot of problems that come from treating early education as a luxury or an afterthought.

Now that a national childcare shortage is raging on, families are choosing between work that will barely pay for their children’s care and not working to be able to care for their kids. This has numerous impacts on the economy, both in the short and long term.

Short term impacts of the childcare crisis include lower family incomes, leading to less spending on anything non-essential, disrupted or abandoned careers as parents and caregivers leave the workforce or struggle to balance, higher turnover in all industries and increased strain on taxpayers.

Those impacts add up to an annual loss of $122 billion dollars.⁴

Those losses stem primarily from lost earnings and productivity, according to a 2023 Ready Nation report, which also notes that the impact on families, businesses, and taxpayers has more than doubled since 2018.

The long-term impacts from here are impossible to calculate. But you can imagine how each factor will ripple out into the future.

2. Early childhood education leads to better health outcomes

Early childhood care full of safety, love and support has positive impacts on health, according to global research conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO). Early learning experiences literally shape a child’s brain, impacting all future development in their lives.⁵

WHO’s report found that societies who invested in “family friendly” policies and resources to promote child development "have the best health status and lowest levels of health inequality in the world.”⁵

Why would quality childcare and education options make such a difference on healthcare outcomes?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that positive early experiences have biological impacts, reducing likelihood of adult diseases like coronary artery disease, chronic pulmonary disease, and cancer.⁶

And when you consider ongoing research around the social determinants of health, not to mention the power of mental health and its connection to medical issues, you can see the importance of early childhood throughout life.

3. Early childhood education benefits are also economic benefits

In the immediate, short-term moment, access to early childhood education allows parents with young children to work. That work adds a great deal to the nation's economy.

A systematic review in the CDC’s report showed that the economic benefits of investing in ECE programs at both local and nationwide levels exceed the costs of those programs.⁶

Some of the economic benefits have to do with earnings gains when parents can return to work or work more reliably. Other economic benefits come from children's lives as they age, as that healthy development leads to better academic, health and social outcomes, costing the state less in healthcare and remedial education.⁶

These individual factors can play a big role in your local economy—and by extension—the national economy. A Center for American Progress study found that rising childcare costs resulted in a 13 percent decrease in employment of mothers with children under 5 in 2018.⁷

Children in ECE also experience economic benefits. As adults, they’re more likely to be educated, employed and trained in a specific occupation.⁶

More participation in the workplace means more national productivity and a livelier economy. Not only is early childhood education important for families, it is key for our nation’s workplace and economic health.

4. Early childhood education can lower rates of incarceration

Speaking of economic benefits, studies suggest that putting more children in early childhood education now will result in fewer adults who commit crimes.⁸

The average cost of incarceration for a Federal inmate in a Federal facility in 2020 was $39,158. With a large prison population, that total figure adds up quickly.⁹

That number does not include all the lost income and lost opportunities for incarcerated people who might otherwise participate in the workforce. The overall benefit of helping children grow into law-abiding adults is impossible to put a number on.

With less incarceration, how many families would stay together and thrive? How would it impact crime rates? How many relationships, careers and communities would have brighter future successes? How many people would experience a longer, fuller life?

The long-term impact early childhood education can have on society is incalculable.

5. ECE creates more equality in the world

Preliminary education directly relates to a child’s pre-literacy, prewriting and pre-math skills. It also affects school readiness and social skills that prove essential to education further on.

Lower incarceration rates, positive academic impacts and better health outcomes help to address systemic racial, economic and cultural disparities that have persistently shown up in those areas. As ECE also helps to prepare children for success in school, it can also create more economic equality.

ECE also makes a difference in gender inequality.

WHO’s report found that early childhood is when gender inequality starts. Early childhood education helps alleviate this inequality, leading to improved access to education as children grow and a positive impact on gender disparities as they mature into adulthood.⁵

When children have access to education and caregivers who understand their development, they are better equipped to thrive in school and in their communities.

Will you play a role in early child development?

As you can see, ECE is a field that impacts so much of society today. Professionals tend to choose early childhood because they want to make a difference in children’s lives, and thereby—the world.

Early childhood educators help give children a beautiful future. These benefits of ECE don’t just come from a safe place for children to go while their families work (though that’s a start). They come from professionals who’ve learned about early brain development and use that knowledge to help children grow.

An early childhood education program is all about understanding the intricacies of early childhood development, and how to support learning from infancy on.

A great early childhood educator knows how to nurture young learners where they are in terms of their cognitive, social and emotional development. And that's what makes all the difference.

Maybe in an ideal world, every parent could join an early education program for a bit, along with all the professionals who are passionate about working with kids. In an ideal world, all the initiatives to make childcare accessible and responsive to kids' needs would be granted. Check out our articles, "Exploring the Components of a Quality Early Childhood Curriculum" and "Early Childhood Mental Health: 8 Things ECE Professionals Should Know".

Related Articles:

• Exploring the Components of a Quality Early Childhood Curriculum
• Early Childhood Mental Health: 8 Things ECE Professionals Should Know
• 7 Teaching Strategies to Consider for Your ECE Classroom
• 6 Expert Insights About Teaching Exceptional Children
  

But until then, early childhood educators really do take the world onto their shoulders as they guide little ones and their families into the bright potential of early learning.

If you could see yourself in this kind of role, you might be surprised at all the different forms it can take. Check out " Early Childhood Educators Step Up: 7 Inspiring Examples of Intentional Teaching" and “What Can I Do with an Early Childhood Education Degree?” for more.

¹National Bureau of Economic Research, Schools, Skills and Synapses [accessed June 2019] https://www.nber.org/papers/w14064
²Early childhood education at home and abroad, (2012) American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. https://www.aft.org/position/early-childhood-education-home-and-abroad
³National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Facts: What percentage of children are enrolled in preprimary education? [Accessed June 2019] https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=516
⁴$122 Billion: The Growing, Annual Cost of the Infant-Toddler Child Care Crisis (2023), Ready Nation and the Council For a Strong America [accessed 9/26/2023] https://strongnation.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/1598/05d917e2-9618-4648-a0ee-1b35d17e2a4d.pdf?1674854626&inline%3B%20filename=%22%24122%20Billion:%20The%20Growing,%20Annual%20Cost%20of%20the%20Infant-Toddler%20Child%20Care%20Crisis.pdf%22
⁵Early Childhood Development: A Powerful Equalizer (2007) World Health Organization. [accessed 9/26/2023] https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=1df862d6976456b057e8ce78c9e713807e7590d0
⁶Early Childhood Education: Interventions Addressing the Social Determinants of Health (2023) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [accessed 9/26/2023]. https://www.cdc.gov/policy/hi5/earlychildhoodeducation/index.html
⁷Center for American Progress, The Effects of Universal Preschool in Washington, D.C.: Children’s Learning and Mother’s Earnings, [accessed 9/26/2023]. https://cdn.americanprogress.org/content/uploads/2018/09/14125635/Children-Learning-Mothers-Earning-report.pdf
⁸High Scope, The Perry Preschool Project, [accessed 9/26/2023] https://highscope.org/perry-preschool-project/.
⁹Annual Determination of Average Cost of Incarceration Fee (COIF) (2021), The Federal Register [accessed 9/26/2023]. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/09/01/2021-18800/annual-determination-of-average-cost-of-incarceration-fee-coif

EDITOR’S NOTE: A version of this article was originally published in 2016. It has since been rewritten for 2023.