Investing In Children

This book presents arguments for the following propositions: Local economic development strategies in the United States should include extensive investments in high quality early childhood programs, such as prekindergarten (pre K) education, child care, and parenting assistance. Economic development policies should also include reforms in business tax incentives. But economic development benefitsChigher earnings per capita in the local communityCcan be better achieved if business incentives are complemented by early childhood programs. Economic development benefits can play an important role in motivating a grassroots movement for investing in our kids.

More than ever, the economic health of a country depends upon the skills, knowledge, and capacities of its people. How does a person acquire these human assets and how can we promote their development? Securing the Future assembles an interdisciplinary team of scholars to investigate the full range of factors—pediatric, psychological, social, and economic—that bear on a child's development into a well-adjusted, economically productive member of society. A central purpose of the volume is to identify sound interventions that will boost human assets, particularly among the disadvantaged. The book provides a comprehensive evaluation of current initiatives and offers a wealth of new suggestions for effective public and private investments in child development. While children from affluent, highly educated families have good quality child care and an expensive education provided for them, children from poor families make do with informal child care and a public school system that does not always meet their needs. How might we best redress this growing imbalance? The contributors to this volume recommend policies that treat academic attainment together with psychological development and social adjustment. Mentoring programs, for example, promote better school performance by first fostering a young person's motivation to learn. Investments made early in life, such as preschool education, are shown to have the greatest impact on later learning for the least cost. In their focus upon children, however, the authors do not neglect the important links between generations. Poverty and inequality harm the development of parents and children alike. Interventions that empower parents to fight for better services and better schools are also of great benefit to their children. Securing the Future shows how investments in child development are both a means to an end and an end in themselves. They benefit the child directly and they also help that child contribute to the well-being of society. This book points us toward more effective strategies for promoting the economic success and the social cohesion of future generations. A Volume in the Ford Foundation Series on Asset Building

La Banque mondiale a rédigé ce guide du développement de la petite enfance (DPE) pour répondre à la demande croissante de conseil et d’appui des responsables de programmes en matière de dialogue politique sur le thème du DPE, et pour aider les clients à prendre et à mettre en oeuvre des décisions pertinentes sur la meilleure manière d’investir dans le DPE dans le cadre de leur économie et de leurs priorités nationales. Ce guide comble un manque dans la littérature actuelle sur le sujet (1) en distillant l’information existante sous la forme de notes concises et faciles à utiliser ;(2) en fournissant une information pratique sur les dernières questions pertinentes relatives au DPE, telles que la mesure des résultats du développement des enfants grâce à l’identification et l’adaptation d’instruments efficaces, aux transferts monétaires conditionnels destinés aux familles de jeunes enfants, et autres ; et (3) en évaluant la qualité des derniers faits rapportés pour chaque sujet et en identifiant les lacunes en matière de connaissances pour lesquelles des expérimentations et évaluations complémentaires sont nécessaires.

The essential guide to being smart about money and investing Blue Chip Kids: What Every Child (and Parent) Should Know About Money, Investing, and the Stock Market is a fun and easy-to-understand introduction to the world of money and investing for kids and parents. Frustrated by the lack of entertaining financial teaching materials for his 13-year-old son, this book is the result of a father’s commitment to pass on one of life’s most important skills. Written by David W. Bianchi—an investor and lawyer with an economics degree from Tufts University—this hands-on resource demystifies the basic principles about money matters and shows what it takes to spend, save, and invest wisely. Filled with simple examples and numerous illustrations, this easy-to-read book discusses money and investing in 100 bite-size topics. For every parent who wants their children to develop the skills to invest wisely and become responsible money managers, regular savers, and to earn money while they sleep, this book is a must-have.

This book brings together insights from a range of disciplines, including law, sociology, criminology and history, to identify and explain the complex and inter-related factors which help or hinder the state to 'invest' in children and young people. The first part of the book examines the 'intangibles' - the ideologies, social constructions and moral precepts - which obstruct or encourage the passage and full implementation of legislation, policy and practice which hopes to improve the lives and prospects of children and young people. Notions of family and parental responsibility, assumptions about what children and young people 'are' and the extent to which they should be held accountable, and ideas around state investment against future risks are the key factors considered. The second part of the book focuses on the difficulties in practice of implementing policies aimed at investing in children's lives and futures. It reviews the role of science in the identification of risk factors related to poor outcomes for children and in the selection of target groups or areas for risk-based intervention to provide (early) support and preventative programmes for children and their families. It also assesses whether and how law does or could help to 'deliver' an appropriate investment of time and money in children, with a focus on the existence and effectiveness of a rights-based approach. The final chapters examine the results of research so far undertaken done on selected programmes in the Every Child Matters, social inclusion and Youth Justice Board policy agendas and they indentify promising developments. However, they also draw attention to the alternative agendas around children and young people which are competing for government money and the public's support and warn that there are dangers in a child-focused policy whose justification relies so heavily on future cost savings stemming from the production of healthier, more employable and law-abiding adults.

Hearings were conducted in Newark (New Jersey), Los Angeles (California), Detroit (Michigan), and Atlanta (Georgia) to elicit testimony concerning public investment in education and social services for children and their families. At each of the four hearings, an opening statement by Senator Tom Harkin was followed by statements from individuals interested in children's education and services. In the four hearings, oral and written testimony concerning the need to improve and better fund education and social services for children and their families was presented by nearly 50 senators, representatives, mayors, educators, health care providers, religious leaders, community leaders, and concerned individuals. (MDM)

Investing in Children: Work, Education, and Social Policy in Two Rich Countries presents new research by leading scholars in Australia and the United States on economic factors that influence children's development and the respective social policies that the two nations have designed to boost human capital development. The volume is organized around three major issues: parental employment, early childhood education and child care, and postsecondary education. All three issues are intimately linked with human capital development. Since both Australia and the United States have created extensive policies to address these three issues, there is potential for each to learn from the other's experiences and policies. This volume helps fulfill that potential. The authors demonstrate that in both nations, the effects of low family income and income inequality emerge early in life and persist. However, policies that increase parental employment, augment family income, and promote quality preschool and postsecondary education can boost children's development and at least partially offset the negative developmental effects of family economic disadvantage.