A recent article in the Sidney Morning Herald aims to take the guilt off working mothers by revealing that children who attend preschool have the best earning potential in the future. It talks about a study by the University of Technology in Sydney that claims to be able to predict earning capacity by the age of five years. The lead researcher stated that the IQ test scores of the five year old was a better predictor of whether or not the child would complete high school or go on to the university than was the parents’ IQ or family income. The researchers also stated that quality day care and preschool have the capacity to raise the intelligence levels of young children and were of better benefit to the child than were later intervention or schooling.
Michael Keane, lead investigator said that “the only sort of intervention that economists have found that seems to have a large impact on subsequent labor market outcomes are these kinds of early childhood high-quality daycare interventions.” He added, “There is no evidence of any adverse effects on kids of formal childcare. It would seem logical for the government to focus more research in that direction.” In today’s society, children need to know a fair amount of logical skills, including writing, reading and other activities long before they start kindergarten, something that raises their IQ test scores and better prepares the child for primary school.