Many young children in the United States are thriving and have access to the conditions and resources they need to grow up healthy. However, a substantial number of young children face more challenging conditions such as: poverty; food insecurity; exposure to violence; and inadequate access to health care, well-funded quality schools, and mental health care. In many cases, the historical origins of unequal access to crucial supports for children’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development are rooted in policies that intentionally segregated and limited various populations' access to resources and create opportunity gaps that intertwine and compound to affect academic, health, and economic outcomes over an individual’s life course and across generations.

Closing the Opportunity Gap for Young Children, identifies and describes the causes, costs, and effects of the opportunity gap in young children and explores how disparities in access to quality educational experiences, health care, and positive developmental experiences from birth through age eight intersect with key academic, health, and economic outcomes. The report identifies drivers of these gaps in three key domains—education, mental health, and physical health—and offers recommendations for policy makers for addressing these gaps so that all children in the United States have the opportunity to thrive. In addition, the report offers a detailed set of recommendations for policy makers, practitioners, community organizations, and philanthropic organizations to reduce opportunity gaps in education, health, and social-emotional development.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• COMMITTEE ON EXPLORING THE OPPORTUNITY GAP FOR YOUNG CHILDREN FROM BIRTH TO AGE EIGHT
• BOARD ON CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES
• Acknowledgments
• Acronyms
• Preface
• Summary
  • KEY CONCLUSIONS ACROSS THE COMMITTEE’S DOMAINS OF FOCUS
  • RECOMMENDATIONS
• 1. Introduction
  • ABOUT THIS STUDY
  • STUDY APPROACH
  • THE REPORT CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
  • UNDERSTANDING THE HISTORICAL AND STRUCTURAL DRIVERS OF THE OPPORTUNITY GAP
  • DEMOGRAPHIC AND STRUCTURAL CHANGES AFFECTING CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
  • ACCESS TO RESOURCES, SUPPORTS, AND OPPORTUNITIES
  • OVERVIEW OF THE REPORT
  • REFERENCES
• 2. Opportunity Gaps in Early Care and Education Experienced by Children from Birth to Pre-K
  • WHY EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION MATTERS
  • CURRENT POLICY, FUNDING, AND SYSTEMS
  • ACCESS TO EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION SYSTEMS
  • DIFFERENTIAL EXPERIENCES IN LEARNING SETTINGS
  • THE IMPORTANCE OF STRUCTURAL QUALITY STANDARDS
  • THE EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION WORKFORCE
  • PROCESS AND INTERACTIONAL QUALITY
  • THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON CHILDREN'S OPPORTUNITY GAPS
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 3. Opportunity Gaps in the Education Experienced by Children in Grades K–3
  • CURRENT POLICY, FUNDING, AND SYSTEMS FOR EARLY ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
  • DIFFERENTIAL EXPERIENCES IN EARLY ELEMENTARY LEARNING SETTINGS
  • THE EDUCATION WORKFORCE IN GRADES K–3
  • THE IMPACT OF COVID-19
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 4. Opportunity Gaps in the Physical Health and Health Care Experienced by Young Children and Their Parents
  • DRIVERS OF OPPORTUNITY GAPS IN HEALTH AND HEALTH OUTCOMES
  • ADDRESSING OPPORTUNITY GAPS IN PHYSICAL HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 5. Opportunity Gaps in the Social-Emotional Development, Wellbeing, and Mental Health Experienced by Young Children
  • CONTEMPORARY CHILD DEVELOPMENT SCIENCE
  • HOW DISPARITIES IN CHILD OUTCOMES DEVELOP
  • REDUCING OPPORTUNITY GAPS IN MENTAL HEALTH IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 6. The Economic Costs of the Opportunity Gap
  • THE OPPORTUNITY GAP: COST ESTIMATES
  • SHARE OF OPPORTUNITY GAPS AND THEIR COSTS THAT CAN BE AFFECTED BY POLICY
  • APPROACHES TO EVALUATING THE NET BENEFITS OF INVESTMENT IN MITIGATING THE OPPORTUNITY GAP
  • EVIDENCE FOR WHETHER IMPLEMENTATION MAKES SENSE: REPRESENTATIVE EXAMPLES OF EFFECTIVE POLICIES IN THREE ARENAS
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 7. Research, Policy, and Practice: Contexts and Efforts to Address Opportunity Gaps
  • INCOME AUGMENTATION PROGRAMS AND POLICIES
  • PARENTS' POOR JOB QUALITY AND OPPORTUNITY GAPS FOR CHILDREN
  • POLICY INTERVENTIONS AND PROGRAMS THAT ADDRESS PARENTS' JOB QUALITY
  • ADDRESSING OPPORTUNITY GAPS AND OUTCOMES IN EDUCATION
  • ADDRESSING OPPORTUNITY GAPS AND OUTCOMES IN PHYSICAL HEALTH
  • HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT
  • PUBLIC–PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 8. Key Conclusions and Recommendations
  • KEY CONCLUSIONS
  • RECOMMENDATIONS
  • FINAL THOUGHTS
  • REFERENCES
• Appendix A. A Total Population of Children Ages 0–8 by Race/Ethnicity and Nativity, 2020
• Appendix B. Percentage of Children from Birth through Age 5 and Not Yet in Kindergarten Participating in Various Weekly Nonparental Care Arrangements, by Child and Family Characteristics, 2019
• Appendix C. Committee Member and Staff Biosketches

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Closing the Opportunity Gap for Young Children. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26743.

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26743

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023942496

This publication is available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu.

Printed in the United States of America.