Rural gaps in participation in early childhood education
Judy A. Temple
Department of Applied Economics and Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
University of Minnesota
Abstract:
While state government spending on early education has grown in recent years, accessibility of
preschool programs for rural children remains a problem. Using census-tract data from a
nationally-representative data set on U.S children, multinomial logit estimation reveals significant
differences in early education experiences between rural and nonrural children. Both rural
children and children of less-educated mothers are less likely to participate in preschool. This
paper concludes by discussing the appropriate role of local, state, or federal governments in
funding rural preschool programs. While early educational investments are being touted as
effective economic development tools, the nature of the positive externalities associated with
preschool makes it unlikely that any single rural community would invest in high-quality
programs without state or federal assistance.
January 2009
JEL codes: I2, R0, H4
Keywords: Preschool, rural education, human capital, early education
This paper was presented at the annual meetings of the Southern Agricultural Economics
Association in January 2009. Laura Hildreth and Ricardo Fonseco provided excellent research
assistance.