Nobel Laureate James Heckman Advocates for Early Childhood Investment

“What’s the answer to global competitiveness, better health and education outcomes, and less crime and poverty?” asked Professor James Heckman, Nobel Laureate of economics, at a lecture at CSU Monterey Bay last week that pertained directly to California’s 3.3 million children ages 0-5. As an answer, Professor Heckman focused on investment in early childhood and its long-term importance in improving America’s struggling economy. The talk, hosted by First 5 Monterey County, was streamed live by First 5s across the state and highlighted evidence that support the development and funding of programs for early childhood (from birth to 5 years old).

Professor Heckman emphasized character skills as essential to a child’s long term success in life. Cognitive skills and measures, such as IQ, are all too often regarded as the ultimate determining factor of how successful, both academically and professionally, a child will be later in life, he said. However, Professor Heckman encouraged a broader focus, encompassing both character skills, such as self-esteem and motivation, as well as cognitive skills to foster success.

The essential role that family and parents have in influencing a child’s level of performance also was highlighted by Professor Heckman. He noted that since a child spends the most time with his/her parents in the first years of life, they have the most influence on the child’s development. Heckman championed child participation in substantive preschool programs, supplemented with attention at home. Skills gained early in this manner will set a foundation for the development of additional skills later in life, he said.

Ultimately, Professor Heckman urged his audience to consider early childhood investment as a form of prevention of economic decline, rather than a remediation. By building an intelligent and capable population, the country will benefit long-term from these early investments, he said.

Kidsdata.org offers numerous data specific to children 0-5. See demographic highlights of infants and early childhood in California.

Posted by Stacey Angeles

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2012 at 3:26 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.