How Early Health Affects Children's Life Chances

For children of all races and ethnicities, birth weight has strong relationships with later test scores, according to research by David Figlio. Furthermore, children's early health affects not only their own intellectual performance but also that of their siblings.Figlio will describe the profound effects of early child health on children's cognitive development in an upcoming talk at the Center for Child and Family Policy. The January 13 talk takes place in Rhodes Conference Room as part of the Center for Child and Family Policy's Sulzberger Distinguished Lecture Series.His research draws on data that follow 1.6 million Florida children from birth through their school years. His research suggests that investing in early health interventions positively helps both unhealthy children and their siblings. As director of Northwestern University's Institute for Policy Research, Figlio conducts research on a wide range of educational and tax issues, from school accountability and standards to welfare policy and policy design. He has advised several U.S. states and foreign nations on the design, implementation, and evaluation of educational policies. His work has been published in numerous leading journals, including the American Economic Review, Journal of Public Economics,Journal of Law and Economics, and Journal of Human Resources.Please join us for a reception after the talk.