ERIC Number: EJ1448103
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0964-5292
EISSN: EISSN-1469-5782
Effects of a Large-Scale Program for the Construction of Daycare and Preschool Centers on Cognitive Skills and Female Employment
Marcelo Castro; Breno da Cruz
Education Economics, v32 n6 p786-811 2024
This paper assesses the impacts of a large-scale program aimed at constructing daycare and preschool centers in Brazil named Proinfância, which funded new buildings in nearly 45% of the municipalities between 2008 and 2017. We find a significant increase in early education care in the jurisdictions that participated in the program more than a decade after it had started: 4 percentage points in the attendance rate for infants aged up to three and six percentage points for children aged 4 to 5. However, the improvements in public schools' scores in 'Prova Brasil', which is a national exam for elementary school children, are small (at most 1%). Despite this, the program significantly helped increase female labor force participation, especially considering low-educated workers, but also with a small magnitude (1 percentage point). The results suggest that a faster increase in the coverage of public infant education would lead to more pronounced effects on children's development and female participation in the workforce.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Early Childhood Education, Educational Facilities, Labor Force, Employed Women, Construction Programs, Academic Achievement, Program Evaluation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Brazil
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A