Long-Term Economic Outcomes of Early Childhood Health

From a project of the Partnership for America's Economic Success:

There has been significant research conducted on the benefits of childhood health to society, yet few people are aware of the large spillovers from health to economic productivity. To promote the understanding of the economic impacts of early childhood health, this project surveys and translates the current research on this topic. The authors, economists at the University of Georgia at Athens, identify the current research on how childhood health affects productivity in adulthood, determine a range of effect estimates, and translate some of these estimates into tangible economic impacts. In particular, they assess costs of three specific health conditions among children prenatal to age five, including: adverse birth conditions (low birth weight, prematurity, birth defects, and birth trauma); injury due to child maltreatment (abuse and neglect); and asthma. With respect to outcomes, the researchers concentrate on those that affect economic productivity, such as educational attainment, labor force participation, wages, work hours, and purchasing power.

We tend to think of asthma as something between a nuisance (inhalers, trying to avoid triggers in the house) and a real health threat (trips to the emergency room, steroid shots), but, as a society, we have not assessed the economic costs of this common illness. Asthma affects a substantial proportion of U.S. children – 8.5% overall, many more among minority groups – and carries costs that are both immediate and long-term. The new study by Drs. Angela Fertig and Phaedra Corso finds that, over the course of a person’s lifetime, the majority of overall costs come in the form of lost worker productivity. This loss, which is borne by businesses, is a combination of adult workdays lost due to their own uncontrolled asthma and time off spent taking care of children suffering from (largely preventable) acute attacks. The report and accompanying policy brief (PDF) urge business leaders to pay attention to this issue, as it is in their self-interest to do so, and to advocate for prevention in order to save dollars, now and into the future, on costly remediation.

The reports on birth conditions and abuse are forthcoming. The report on the economic impact of child maltreatment in the United States will be published in a forthcoming issue of Child Abuse & Neglect.

To download the brief on Delivering Healthier Babies and Economic Returns, visit: http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=1024799123&msgid=5426420&act=779V&c=40455&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.PartnershipForSuccess.org%2Fuploads%2F200912_00609PAESLongtermCostsBriefpressproof.pdf