| By: |
Kuehnle, Daniel;
Oberfichtner, Michael |
| Abstract: |
While recent studies mostly find that attending child care earlier improves
the skills of children from low socio-economic and non-native backgrounds in
the short-run, it remains unclear whether such positive effects persist. We
identify the short- and medium-run effects of early child care attendance in
Germany using a fuzzy discontinuity in child care starting age between
December and January. This discontinuity arises as children typically start
formal child care in the summer of the calendar year in which they turn three.
Combining rich German survey and administrative data, we follow one cohort
from age five to 15 and examine standardised cognitive test scores,
non-cognitive skill measures, and school track choice. We find no evidence
that starting child care earlier affects children's outcomes in the short- or
medium-run. Our precise estimates rule out large effects for children whose
parents have a strong preference for sending them to early child care. |
| Keywords: |
child care,child development,skill formation,cognitive skills,non-cognitive skills,fuzzy regression discontinuity |
| JEL: |
J13 I21 I38 |
| Date: |
2017 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc17:168241&r=neu |