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Author: Gibbs, Chloe
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Barr, Andrew
Gibbs, Chloe
Breaking the Cycle? Intergenerational Effects of an Anti-Poverty Program in Early Childhood
Journal of Political Economy published online (6 May 2022): DOI: 10.1086/720764. Also:https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/720764
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Criminal Justice System; Educational Attainment; Head Start; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Pregnancy, Adolescent; Wages

Despite substantial evidence that resources and outcomes are transmitted across generations, there has been limited inquiry into the extent to which anti-poverty programs actually disrupt the cycle of bad outcomes. We leverage the rollout of the United States' largest early childhood program, Head Start, to estimate the effect of early childhood exposure among mothers on their children's long-term outcomes. We find evidence of intergenerational transmission of effects in the form of increased educational attainment, reduced teen pregnancy, and reduced criminal engagement in the second generation. These effects correspond to an estimated increase in discounted second-generation wages of 6 to 11 percent depending on specification. Exploration of earlier outcomes suggests an important role for changes in parenting behavior and potential non-cognitive channels.
Bibliography Citation
Barr, Andrew and Chloe Gibbs. "Breaking the Cycle? Intergenerational Effects of an Anti-Poverty Program in Early Childhood." Journal of Political Economy published online (6 May 2022): DOI: 10.1086/720764. Also:https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/720764.
2. Barr, Andrew
Gibbs, Chloe
The Longer Long-Term Impact of Head Start: Intergenerational Transmission of Program Effects
Presented: Albuquerque NM, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Annual Fall Research Conference, November 2014
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM)
Keyword(s): Data Linkage (also see Record Linkage); Educational Attainment; Head Start; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Preschool Children; Program Participation/Evaluation; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We exploit two sources of exogenous variation to identify the intergenerational impact of Head Start participation. First, we leverage sibling comparisons to isolate the effects of an individual's Head Start attendance on their own children as compared to their non-participating sibling's children. We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) for information on the first generation's Head Start status, and we match that data to the NLSY79 Children and Young Adults (CNLSY) data which follows the biological children of the NLSY79 survey respondents to look at outcomes for the second generation.

In addition, we combine detailed information on the location of birth of individuals in the NLSY79, born from 1957 to 1964, with data on the rollout of the Head Start program during the 1960s from the National Archives and Records Administration, to estimate the effect of the availability of a Head Start program on these intergenerational outcomes. The plausibly random nature of the Head Start rollout, as well as variation in exposure by birth cohort, creates a natural experiment to compare similar individuals in the first generation with differing likelihood of participation based on availability.

Our preliminary results suggest that Head Start participation in the first generation translates into improved longer-term outcomes for the second generation, in the form of increased educational attainment and decreased engagement in risky behaviors. These results, if they sustain multiple robustness checks, would indicate that we understate the cost-effectiveness of Head Start and other preschool interventions when we estimate impacts on the participants alone.

Bibliography Citation
Barr, Andrew and Chloe Gibbs. "The Longer Long-Term Impact of Head Start: Intergenerational Transmission of Program Effects." Presented: Albuquerque NM, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Annual Fall Research Conference, November 2014.