Replication File For The Physical and Mental Health Returns of Head Start 25 Years After Participation: Evidence from Income Eligibility Cutoffs

Head Start, the largest early childhood intervention to date, has affected the health<br>and welfare of many children. Most studies that look at long-term effects of Head Start<br>exploit its rollout in the 1960s, missing the effects of many changes to Head Start in<br>the 1980s and 1990s: full-year programming, added nutritional components, integra-<br>tion of children with disabilities, and addition of educational and social services for<br>families. I study the effects of Head Start on long-term physical and mental health for<br>children who attended Head Start during this critical period of changes and are now<br>labor market entrants in their late 20s. I find large improvements in physical and men-<br>tal health for labor market entrants, resulting in a 0.15 standard deviation decrease in<br>the incidence of poor health. While I find small impacts on economic outcomes, there<br>are large decreases in food stamp usage later in life. Ultimately, Head Start improves<br>health outcomes up to 25 years after participation in the program.