Seeing and Hearing: The Impacts of New York City’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program on the Health of Low-Income Children

NBER Working Paper No. 23297

Journal of Health Economics, Vol. 64, 2019

59 Pages Posted: 24 Mar 2017 Last revised: 8 Mar 2019

See all articles by Kai Hong

Kai Hong

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; New York University (NYU) - Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service

Kacie Dragan

New York University (NYU) - Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service

Sherry Glied

New York University (NYU) - Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: January 15, 2019

Abstract

We examine the effect of New York City’s universal pre-kindergarten program (UPK) on the health and utilization of children enrolled in Medicaid using a difference-in-regression- discontinuities design. We find that UPK increases the probability that a child is diagnosed with asthma or with vision problems, receives treatment for hearing or vision problems, or receives an immunization or screening during the pre-kindergarten year. These effects are not offset by lower rates in the kindergarten year, suggesting that UPK accelerates the rate at which children are identified with and treated for conditions that could potentially delay learning and cause behavioral problems.

Keywords: pre-kindergarten, health, regression discontinuity design, early childhood, Medicaid

JEL Classification: I10, I28, H51, H52

Suggested Citation

Hong, Kai and Dragan, Kacie and Glied, Sherry A., Seeing and Hearing: The Impacts of New York City’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program on the Health of Low-Income Children (January 15, 2019). NBER Working Paper No. 23297, Journal of Health Economics, Vol. 64, 2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2939798 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2939798

Kai Hong (Contact Author)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( email )

1600 Clifton Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30333
United States

New York University (NYU) - Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service ( email )

The Puck Building
295 Lafayette Street, Second Floor
New York, NY 10012
United States

Kacie Dragan

New York University (NYU) - Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service ( email )

The Puck Building
295 Lafayette Street, Second Floor
New York, NY 10012
United States

Sherry A. Glied

New York University (NYU) - Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service ( email )

The Puck Building
295 Lafayette Street, Second Floor
New York, NY 10012
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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