Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Title: The Long-Term Effects of Charity Nurseries: Evidence From Early 20th Century New York
Author-Name: Philipp Ager
Author-Email: philipp.ager@uni-mannheim.de
Author-Name: Viktor Malein
Author-Email: viktor.malein@ekh.lu.se

Classification-JEL: I21, I26, J13, J15, N31
Keywords: Age of Mass Migration; Charity Nurseries; Child Care; Disadvantaged Children; Kindergarten
Instruction; New York City

Abstract: The paper evaluates the long-run impact of charity nurseries for disadvantaged children in
early 20th-century New York. Access to charity nurseries with kindergarten instruction raised
children’s years of education and reduced their likelihood of working in low-skilled jobs later
in life. Instead, exposed children were more likely to work in jobs requiring higher cognitive
and language skills. The effects were strongest for children from the most disadvantaged
immigrant groups at that time. Our findings suggest that kindergarten instruction in charity
nurseries helped immigrant children better understand teachers’ instructions and learning
materials which improved their economic outcomes in adulthood.

Note: 
Length: 65
Creation-Date: 2024-09
Revision-Date: 
File-URL: https://www.crctr224.de/research/discussion-papers/archive/dp596
File-Format: application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:CRCTR224_2024_596