Can Early Intervention Have a Sustained Effect on Human Capital?

Abstract

Many early intervention studies experience a dissolution of treatment effects in the aftermath of the intervention. Using a randomized trial, this work examines the impact of Preparing for Life, a pregnancy to age five home visiting and parenting program, on outcomes in middle childhood. I find significant treatment effects on cognitive skills (0.55 SD) and school achievement tests (0.30–0.54 SD) at age nine. There is no impact on socio‐emotional skills, and there is little evidence of treatment heterogeneity by gender, birth order, or distribution of ability. The effects are mainly driven by improvements in early parental beliefs.