Subsidized childcare and child development in Colombia: Effects of Hogares Comunitarios de Bienestar as a function of timing and length of exposure
Subsidized childcare and child development in Colombia: Effects of Hogares Comunitarios de Bienestar as a function of timing and length of exposure
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DOI：
10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.10.029
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发表时间：
2013-11-01
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Fernandez, Camila
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bernal, Raquel;Fernandez, Camila
关于早期保育和教育对儿童发展影响的有力证据主要来自高收入国家。拉丁美洲和加勒比地区的一些研究确认了有条件现金转移和家访方案对儿童发展的好处。然而，围绕儿童保育方法的影响和成本效益仍存在争议。需要进一步的研究，以了解如何扩大儿童保育环境可能会支持低收入儿童在拉丁美洲的发展，为此，本研究旨在确定暴露于哥伦比亚儿童的营养状况，认知和社会情感发展的补贴儿童保育计划的影响。这项以社区为基础的计划被称为Hogares Comunitarios de Bienestar（HCB），为80万名6岁以下的低收入儿童提供家庭儿童保育，补充营养和心理刺激。我们分析了2007年收集的10,173名项目受益儿童（3-6岁）的数据。我们比较了受益儿童谁已经在该计划很长一段时间与受益儿童谁已经在该计划一个月或更短的时间内，按年龄组，以估计程序的曝光效果。我们使用匹配估计量来校正不同暴露水平的自我选择，结果表明，3至6岁儿童在暴露至少15个月后，认知发育改善了0.15至0.3个标准差（SD）。社会情绪技能提高0.12至0.3 SD的儿童年龄大于3后，至少15个月的节目曝光。营养状况没有显著改善。根据不同的贴现率，估计的效益成本比在1.0至2.7之间。研究结果支持一个潜在的有效战略，以促进哥伦比亚和其他发展中国家的低收入儿童的发展。(C)2012爱思唯尔有限公司保留所有权利。
Rigorous evidence regarding the impact of early care and education on children's development comes primarily from high-income nations. A few studies from Latin America and the Caribbean have identified benefits of conditional cash transfer and home visiting programs on children's development. However, there is still controversy around the impact and cost-effectiveness of childcare approaches. Further research is needed to understand how scaled-up childcare settings may support the development of low-income children in Latin America.To that end, the present study sought to identify the effects of exposure to a subsidized childcare program in Colombia on children's nutritional status, cognitive and socioemotional development. This community-based program, known as Hogares Comunitarios de Bienestar (HCB), serves 800 thousand low-income children under age 6, delivering home-based childcare, supplementary nutrition, and psychosocial stimulation. We analyzed data on 10,173 program beneficiary children (ages 3-6) collected in 2007. We compared beneficiary children who had been in the program for a long time with beneficiary children who had been in the program for a month or less, by age group, to estimate program exposure effects. We used a matching estimator to correct for self-selection into different exposure levels.Results indicated that cognitive development improved 0.15 to 0.3 of a standard deviation (SD) after at least 15 months of exposure for children between 3 and 6 years of age. Socioemotional skills improved 0.12 to 0.3 SD for children older than 3 after at least 15 months of program exposure. No significant gains were found for nutritional status. The estimated benefit-cost ratio ranged from 1.0 to 2.7, depending upon varying discount rates. Findings lend support for a potentially effective strategy to promote the development of low-income children in Colombia and other developing nations. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.