UC Irvine

Early childhood policies can affect a variety of actors in different ways, both intentionally or not. In this dissertation, I present three studies to measure the effects of early childhood interventions on outcomes for the children who benefit from the interventions, their families, and childcare providers. The studies are based on two interventions: North Carolina’s pre-kindergarten program (NC Pre-K) and a randomized controlled trial of a child allowance for low-income families with young children (Baby’s First Years). In Study 1, I estimate the effects of an unconditional, regular cash transfer on the employment participation and earnings of low-income mothers with young children. I use data from a randomized controlled trial, Baby’s First Years, which randomized participants to receive either a $333 or $20 monthly cash gift during the first four years of their children’s life. In Study 2, I study the effects of NC Pre-K’s expansion on the childcare market. Taking advantage of the time and geographic variation of the program’s rollout, I measure how the expansion of the NC Pre-K program affected the enrollment of children in childcare facilities across the state. In Study 3, I measure whether participating in NC Pre-K affected teen births. Using administrative data, including birth records, educational records, and pre-k participation linked at the individual level, I estimate the causal effects of pre-k enrollment on outcomes during females' teenage years.