Prominent economists including a Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Federal Reserve officials and other leading business organizations agree: high-quality preschool is an economically efficient investment. It provides high returns by saving government spending on education, the criminal justice system and public assistance, and increasing tax revenues. By providing young children with a strong, early start, high-quality preschool cultivates a skilled workforce that keeps California competitive in the global economy.
Heckman Equation is a website available for advocates to promote the work of Nobel Laureate James Heckman, who illustrates the economic gains from investments in early childhood development. His work is now explained on a new Heckman Equation website through a variety of presentation slides, videos, and other resources to help demonstrate the importance of effective of early childhood education.
The Partnership for America's Economic Success was created by a group of funders, business leaders, economists, policy experts and advocates to lay the groundwork for making the success of every child the nation's top economic priority. It commissions research on the economic benefits of investments in children, the policy changes needed to fund services commensurate with their economic value, and a communications and coalition-building effort needed to advance these policies.
Strategies for Advancing Preschool Adequacy and Efficiency in California (RAND, 2009) is the fourth and final research report of the RAND Corporation's California Preschool Study. It synthesizes findings of the earlier reports and recommends policies to improve early education in California.
The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools (McKinsey & Co., 2009) is a summary report that shares key findings on achievement gap in the United States and its economic impact. It also notes potential implications of the work and suggests areas for further study.
Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow (Executive Office of the President Council of Economic Advisors, July 2009) is a research report that articulates the need for a well-educated and highly-trained workforce for the jobs of tomorrow's economy. In particular, it highlights the importance of high-quality early education as the strong foundation for a well-trained, competitive workforce.
Key to Economic Success in the 21st Century: Investments in Early Childhood Education (Bay Area Council, May 2009) is a research report that documents why early childhood education is a smart investment. It also discusses the Bay Area need for early care and education and offers policy recommendations.
Investing in Disadvantaged Young Children is an Economically Efficient Policy (Committee for Economic Development, 2006): Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences James Heckman makes the case that early interventions targeted toward disadvantaged children have much higher returns than later ones.
America's Edge is a national non-profit organization established in 2007 to help engage leaders of the business community more extensively in support of local, state, and national efforts to improve the quality of public education.
- The Mounting Crisis: A Call to Action (America’s Edge, 2008): discusses how businesses and business leaders can help sustain America’s competitive edge through quality education. It advises that for America to retain and assert its competitive edge, quality education for the 21st century must begin in the earliest years of a child’s life, and must be sustained throughout a lifetime of learning.
Education and Economic Competitiveness Speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, 2007): Bernanke offers an overview of education and its importance to the economy, noting that early childhood education has high returns in terms of educational attainment and lower rates of social problems, such as crime, teenage pregnancy and welfare dependency.
The Level and Distribution of Economic Well-Being Speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, 2007): Bernanke suggests that policymakers addressing the trend of increasing economic inequality recognize that starting early in life is crucial, and cites research sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis documenting the high returns early childhood programs can pay.
Compilation of early childhood development research (The Federal Reserve of Minneapolis): Web page contains research and articles by economists Rob Grunewald and Arthur Rolnick on early childhood development and economic returns. Also includes other early childhood development resources and links to other web sites.
Economic Inequality in the United States Speech by Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President and CEO Janet Yellen (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 2006): Yellen identifies programs to support early childhood development as a policy tool to address inequality. Preschool programs for disadvantaged children, not only appear to have substantial payoffs early but also are likely to continue paying off throughout the life cycle, she says.
California’s Future Workforce: Will There Be Enough College Graduates? (Public Policy Institute of California, 2008): Analysis shows that the supply of California’s college-educated workers will not meet projected demand. Projections of educational attainment for the California working-age population suggest that the share with a college education will increase from 28 percent in 2000 to only 33 percent in 2020. Economic projections suggest that 39 percent of workers will need a bachelor’s degree in 2020
Plan to Revive the American Economy (Economic Policy Institute, 2008): In its policy handbook on restoring economic security and opportunity, the Economic Policy Institute recommends providing preschool for all, starting with kids from low-income families and aligning pre-k programs and the first years of school.
The Economic Promise of Investing in High-Quality Preschool (Committee for Economic Development, 2006): The Committee for Economic Development, an independent research and policy organization of business leaders and educators, provides economic evidence
that justifies increasing investments in preschool.
Dollars and Sense: A Review of Economic Analyses of Pre-K (Pre-K Now, 2007): The report provides a one-stop shop for the most current and relevant economic impact studies of pre-k.
American Business Leaders' Views on Publicly-funded Pre-Kindergarten and the Advantages to the Economy (Zogby International, 2005): A national poll conducted by Zogby International showed overwhelming support for publicly funded preschool programs among senior executives of Fortune 1000 companies, who said high-quality preschool for every child will help keep America's economy globally competitive.
PNC Study of Early Childhood Education (PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., 2007)" Resources from PNC’s Study of Early Childhood Education explore link between workforce quality and preschool, public support for government-supported preschool and surveys of parents of young children and preschool through third grade teachers.
The Child Care Transition: A league table of early childhood education and care in economically advanced countries (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2008): Report finds that the United States meets only three out of 10 benchmarks for early childhood care and education, and ranks below 18 out of 25 countries that are part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an international organization of industrialized market-economy countries.
Monica reads to her daughter, preschooler Makaela, in Saint Vincent’s library. She also attends parenting classes there on nutrition and dealing with stress.
Flor enjoys reading to other children. Her preschool teacher, Miss Teresa, says she’s a role model. 
Miles loves learning to count the Legos and blocks in his preschool classroom so much that he has begun counting pennies and cars on the street. 
Cecilia, who speaks Cantonese at home, also enjoys the English-language books her preschool class is reading. She wants to be a teacher, and she likes pretending to read the books to her classmates. 