"Mounting evidence shows that investments in early education may be considered as an economic development strategy." -National Conference of State Legislatures brief

• Investments in early childhood yield much higher returns than investments made in programs targeting older individuals. Spending public resources on high-quality early education programs yields greater returns than does spending on programs focusing on later life (e.g., class-size reduction, job training, tuition subsidies, and convict rehabilitation programs).[2]
• More public money is currently invested in K-12 and post-secondary education than in early childhood. Yet, it is money invested in early childhood that yields the greatest returns. For every public dollar invested in a child, only 25.3 cents is invested on a pre-school child and only 6.4 cents on an infant or toddler. [8]
• Every $1 invested in high-quality early childhood education programs returns between $5.98 and $12.90. These returns include higher adult earnings (and therefore higher tax revenues), higher levels of schooling, fewer arrests (and therefore lower criminal justice system expenditures), and less welfare receipt. These findings have been replicated across multiple early education programs, and the expert consensus is that investments in early childhood education yield enormous returns to society.[1],[5],[6]
• Early Head Start and Head Start show a positive return on investment.  The calculated return on investment for each dollar spent on Head Start ranges from $7 and $9.11. [3],[4],[7]
• Early Childhood Investments yield one of the highest returns available for all investments at 10 percent.  Heckman Equation

References

1. Belfield, C. R., Nores, M., Barnett, S., & Schweinhart, L. (2006). The High/Scope Perry Preschool Program: Cost-Benefit Analysis Using Data from the Age-40 Followup. Journal of Human Resources, 41(1), 162-190.
2. Heckman, J. J. (2006). Skill Formation and the Economics of Investing in Disadvantaged Children. Science, 312(5782), 1900-1902.
3. Ludwig, J., & Phillips, D. (2007). The Benefits and Costs of Head Start. Social Policy Report, 21(3:4).
4. Meier, J. (2003). Readiness Study: Head Start Success.
5. Schweinhart, L. J., Barnes, H. V., & Weikart, D. P. (1993). Significant Benefits: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study through Age 27 (Vol. 10).
6. Temple, J. A., & Reynolds, A. J. (2007). Benefits and Costs of Investments in Preschool Education: Evidence from the Child-Parent Centers and Related Programs. Economics of Education Review, 26(1), 126-144.
7. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Head Start Impact Study. (2010). Head Start Impact Study Final Report.
8. Voices for America's Children. (2010). Early Learning Left Out: Building an Early Learning Childhood System to Secure America’s Future (3 ed.).