PI's: Seth Gershenson (SPA) and Taryn Morrissey (SPA)
In the United States, the gap in achievement between children from low-income families and those from high-income families is wide, begins well before kindergarten, and persists over the K-12 years and beyond. One intervention that effectively narrows this achievement gap and has positive economic returns is high-quality early care and education (ECE). While most research has examined the direct effects of ECE programming on children's cognitive test scores, ECE attendance may also narrow SES inequalities through increased parental educational investments at home. We address gaps in the literature by applying a difference-in-differences strategy to nationally representative time diary data to investigate whether access to ECE changes how the parents of young children allocate their time. Specifically, we examine how the implementation of universal voluntary prekindergarten in Florida, beginning in 2005-06, led to changes in parental time spent in developmentally beneficial activities such as reading and conversing with children, time spent facilitating children's activities, and parental time in physical child care, either with ECE-aged children or with other household children. Findings will shed light on a potential strategy for narrowing SES and racial/ethnic achievement gaps, and how the effectiveness of such strategies varies across urban, rural, and suburban locales.