In the news: Study finds that effects of low-quality child care last into adolescence

On May 14, 2010 The Washington Post reported new results from the largest, most authoritative assessment of child rearing in the United States illustrating that low-quality care in the first few years of a child's life can have a small but long-lasting impact on learning and behavior.

This federally funded study has tracked more than 1,300 children since 1991, finding that obedience and academic problems among children who received low-quality child care in their first 4 1/2 years of life persisted through age 15, suggesting the potential for lifelong difficulties.

Experts praised the findings, saying they "underscore the urgent need for local, state and federal governments, employers and others to improve access to high-quality child care."

This study lends further credibility to the work that CFNC accomplishes, led by the motto "education is not a luxury, it is a necessity." We believe that if you care about preventing crime, ending poverty, or closing the achievement gap, then you should care about providing early childhood education for children living in poverty.