Findings show that the financial return to Government and the individual could outweigh the cost of investment in childcare, with children growing up to have better-paid jobs and less reliance on the state.
The analysis by Frontier Economics calculates the size of the impacts that different types of provision would need to have on children’s development at the age of three and four in order for the financial benefits to match the costs of delivery - for example, part-time or full-time, whether private, voluntary, or school, and by quality.
Actual impacts in excess of breakeven points would indicate positive value for money.
The research is part of the longitudinal Study of Early Education and Development (SEED), commissioned by the Department for Education (see page 6).
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