Effects of attendance and time spent in center-based child care on children's outcomes in Chile

Abstract

Using data from a Chilean nationally representative longitudinal survey for early childhood, I study the effects of attendance and time spent in center-based care on children’s outcomes. With a sample size of 1,758 children measured at three years of age, positive and significant effects of attending center-based care between two and three years of age are found by a valueadded approach, using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Instrumental Variables (IV) models. The magnitude of the effect is between 0.3 and 1.2 standard deviations in general development and language outcomes. Time spent in center-based care is positively associated with motor skills for boys, indicating that doubling time spent increases test scores by 0.17 standard deviations. All positive results are only significant for children whose mothers have a high-school education or lower. This evidence implies that policies aimed at increasing enrollment rates in center-based care are beneficial, as they might reduce development gaps between children from less and more-advantageous initial backgrounds.