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As Americans, we believe that every child—no matter their background—deserves a fair shot at the American Dream. Time and time again, education has proven the number one way for a person to lift themselves up by their bootstraps to achieve more than their parents could before them.
Unfortunately, the resources supporting the dreams of little children across the country are in jeopardy. Project 2025—the blueprint for the GOP’s policy agenda—will eliminate Head Start, a vital program that provides early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families.
Head Start is one of the best programs for empowering poor children to lift themselves out of poverty. Head Start has served nearly 40 million children since it began in 1965 and its participants are consistently 12% less likely to live in poverty as adults and 29% less likely to receive public assistance. Not only that, but children who receive early childhood education are less likely to commit crimes later in life.
If Project 2025 succeeds in eliminating Head Start, more than 833,000 children living in poverty across the U.S will immediately be dropped from the program—and the long-term consequences would devastate families and local economies across the nation.
Economic Impact of Eliminating Head Start
While the loss of early education opportunities will no doubt have long-term consequences across the country, the immediate economic impacts will also devastate local communities—especially those in rural areas.
The national average price for child care in 2023 was $11,582, a cost that many low-income families can't afford, making them reliant on alternative childcare resources like Head Start.
In rural areas, Head Start makes up 22 percent of the overall child care supply. Without Head Start, there would be fewer child care slots available and the price of child care will skyrocket, especially in child care deserts, often resulting in parents leaving their jobs to take care of their children and becoming more dependent on government assistance.
Already, the lack of affordable child care costs the U.S. economy $122 billion annually in lost earnings, productivity, and tax revenue. That number will only rise with the elimination of Head Start.
At Family Compassion, we believe it’s our responsibility to safeguard the American Dream for the next generation. Which is why we join the 93% of Americans who agree that it's important that parents be able to find and afford quality child care programs—both for the success of our nation today and for generations to come.