The effect of Sure Start on education, crime and contacts with children's social care

About this event

The first few years of life are crucial for physical, social, emotional and cognitive development. In the past, integrated early years interventions have been shown to have significant human capital benefits for children, particularly in the US. The IFS team build on this literature by evaluating the role of Sure Start, a large scale and wide-ranging early years intervention in England, on school and criminal outcomes throughout childhood and adolescence. Exploiting the staggered rollout of Sure Start centres in England from 1999 to 2010, this research evaluates the effect of Sure Start on educational performance, criminal behaviour, and interactions with children's social care. The results show that Sure Start centres significantly improved academic performance throughout childhood, with potentially large long-run benefits. The team finds weaker evidence of reductions in criminal convictions and interactions with social care.