Taylor, Beck A., Eric Dearing, and Kathleen McCartney. 2004. "Incomes and Outcomes in Early Childhood." Journal of Human Resources 39(4): 980-1007.

Prior research has identified statistically significant but small income effects for children’s cognitive, language, and social outcomes. We examine the impact of family economic resources on developmental outcomes in early childhood, the stage of life during which developmental psychologists have suggested income effects should be largest. Using participants from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, we estimate income effects that are comparable in absolute terms to those reported in previous research. Relative income effect sizes are found to have practical significance, however, both within our sample, and compared to participation in Early Head Start.

Beck A. Taylor is an associate professor of economics and the W. H. Smith Professor of Economics at Baylor University. Eric Dearing is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Wyoming. Kathleen McCartney is a professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2001 meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development. This research was funded in part by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD 25451). A portion of Beck Taylor’s work was completed while a visiting scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The authors would like to thank David Blau, Erdal Tekin, two anonymous referees, and workshop participants at University of Richmond, University of Oregon, and Georgia State University for their valuable comments. The authors would also like to thank Kristen Bub for providing excellent research assistance. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning May 2005 through April 2008 from Beck A. Taylor, Department of Economics, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798-8003. E-mail: Beck_Taylor@baylor.edu.