Publication: Labor Market Returns to Early Childhood Stimulation : A 20-year Followup to an Experimental Intervention in Jamaica
Date
2013-07
ISSN
Published
2013-07
Author(s)
Heckman, James
Pinto, Rodrigo
Zanolini, Arianna
Walker, Susan
Chang-Lopez, Susan
Grantham-McGregor, Sally
Abstract
This paper finds large effects on the
earnings of participants from a randomized intervention that
gave psychosocial stimulation to stunted Jamaican toddlers
living in poverty. The intervention consisted of one-hour
weekly visits from community Jamaican health workers over a
2-year period that taught parenting skills and encouraged
mothers to interact and play with their children in ways
that would develop their children's cognitive and
personality skills. The authors re-interviewed the study
participants 20 years after the intervention. Stimulation
increased the average earnings of participants by 42
percent. Treatment group earnings caught up to the earnings
of a matched non-stunted comparison group. These findings
show that psychosocial stimulation early in childhood in
disadvantaged settings can have substantial effects on labor
market outcomes and reduce later life inequality.
Citation
“Gertler, Paul; Heckman, James; Pinto, Rodrigo; Zanolini, Arianna; Vermeersch, Christel; Walker, Susan; Chang-Lopez, Susan; Grantham-McGregor, Sally. 2013. Labor Market Returns to Early Childhood Stimulation : A 20-year Followup to an Experimental Intervention in Jamaica. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6529. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15887 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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