Why Early Childhood Education Matters

During the first five years, a child’s brain is at its most flexible, making this a critical period for learning and growth. Access to early learning lays the foundation for school readiness by building the cognitive and social skills children need to do well in school and in life, including language, attentiveness, persistence, kindness, and self-regulation.

Why does this matter? Because everything that comes after early childhood education is built on this foundation. How well students perform in elementary school is directly linked to the learning and development that happens in those first five years.

Research from the Learning Policy Institute found that investments in quality preschool programs bolster student success. Students who attend preschool are more prepared for school and are less likely to be identified as having special needs or held back in elementary school than children who did not attend. Studies also show clear positive effects on early literacy and mathematics skills.

High school graduation rates are directly tied to elementary school success. Studies by the Foundation for Child Development indicate that students lacking basic reading skills by the end of third grade account for more than three-fifths of all students who leave before graduation.

And job opportunities and career success trace back to those graduation rates, which are rooted in early learning:

• Higher Earning Potential: Adults with a high school diploma earn significantly more over their lifetimes compared to students who leave before graduation, pulling in roughly $10,000 more annually.

• Job Security: Non-graduates are roughly twice as likely to be unemployed at any given time, with the dropout unemployment rate historically much higher than for diploma holders.

• Long-Term Stability: High school completion correlates strongly with better long-term health, greater economic mobility, and reduced risk of incarceration.

So why does early childhood education matter? Because this is where we all start.

When communities have strong preschools and early learning centers, everyone benefits. Children gain access to quality learning experiences and educated teachers. They become more successful in school, more likely to graduate, and better positioned to pursue post-secondary education and meaningful careers. They enjoy higher earning potential, better health outcomes, and a reduced risk of incarceration. Parents benefit too, knowing their children are well cared for and well taught, freeing them to build their own careers and financial stability. And communities benefit from the educated workforce that grows out of these early investments, the teachers, healthcare providers, and public servants who will go on to serve the next generation.

As Diogenes said, “The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.”

There is not one person in our society who would not benefit from the success of early childhood education. Early childhood education matters.