Supporting Our Future

Early Childhood Matters

Research demonstrates that early childhood matters for: 

• Missouri’s economy: Every year, Missouri loses an estimated $1.35 billion due to child care issues. On top of this, the state invests countless dollars into corrections, social services, and health care for issues that could have been mitigated by an early investment in early childhood. 
• Employers: When parents cannot work, employers face a diminished talent pool, unexpected absences and high-levels of costly turnover. Absences and employee turnover alone cost Missouri employers an estimated $1.07 billion per year. 
• Crime prevention: When children participate in high-quality early childhood programs, they experience a reduced likelihood of criminal activity, particularly violent crime. This results in a decreased investment needed on the part of the state for corrective action. 
• Child health and development: 90% of brain development occurs from birth to age 5, and more than a million new neural connections form every second. High-quality early childhood experiences contribute to this growth and often allow for the early identification of health or developmental concerns. 
• Reducing child abuse and neglect: Participating in a high quality home visiting program reduces the likelihood of child maltreatment, family interaction with Child Protective Services, and out of home placement for children. 
• School readiness: The experiences children have in the first five years of their life lay the foundation for their educational future. Research shows when those experiences are not high quality, children are more likely to enter school behind their peers and are less likely to perform well in school. 
• School success: High quality early childhood programs improve students’ long-term school success, leading to higher achievement test scores, lower rates of grade repetition, increased high school completion, and reduced delinquency. 
• Working families: 61% of working parents in Missouri reported missing work over a 3 month period to child care challenges. This affects not only the income of individual families but contributes to workforce shortages for businesses.