Using all available government data, this paper calculates the actual, per-child costs of Head Start (including Early Head Start), child care provided under the Child Care and evelopment Fund (CCDF), and prekindergarten/preschool programs. Besides being substantially higher than often reported by the relevant government agencies, the resulting cost estimates show dramatic differences in costs per child among the three forms of education and care.

For 2003/2004, Head Start Bureau reported an average per-child cost of about $7,222 per year.[1] This figure is apparently used by all analysts, inside and outside the government. However, it does not take into account other, substantial Head Start expenditures; represents the average per-child cost across all forms of Head Start, from part- to full-day, and from homebased to Early Head Start; and reflects the fact that Head Start is mostly a nine-month long program with about half the children in care for around four hours a day. (Unless otherwise indicated, all dollar amounts are in 2004 dollars.)

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Douglas J. Besharov is the Joseph J. and Violet Jacobs Scholar in Social Welfare Studies at AEI. Justus A. Myers is a research assistant at AEI. Jeffrey S. Morrow is a research assistant at AEI.