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Making an Economic Case

Find resources for educating the community about the costs associated with child abuse and neglect and the benefits and cost effectiveness of child abuse and neglect prevention efforts.

• Cost-of-injury analysis
• Cost-benefit analysis
• Cost-effectiveness analysis
• Calculating program costs

With limited funding available for human service programs, it becomes increasingly important to establish the value of preventing child abuse and neglect. Accurate information on costs and outcomes of programs, as provided in economic analyses, can help prevention programs make their case to funders and policy makers.

Economic analyses can help answer the questions:

• What is the economic impact of child abuse and neglect on our community?
• How much money can be saved by preventing child abuse and neglect?
• Which prevention programs help the most, for the least amount of money?

An analysis that only deals with dollars and cents can never fully convey the devastating impact of child abuse and neglect on children and families. Nor can economic analysis replace program evaluation, which assesses whether or not programs are effective in achieving their intended outcomes. However, economic analyses can help key stakeholders understand the toll of child abuse and neglect on society and demonstrate that prevention programs represent a cost-effective use of limited resources.

Selected Resources Invest in Kids Working Group Partnership for America's Economic Success Examines and documents the economic benefits of investments in young children and explores policies to finance expansion of such services. The Economics of Early Childhood Policy: What the Dismal Science Has to Say About Investing in Children (PDF - 358 KB) Kilburn & Karoly (2008) Summarizes the contributions of economic studies to early childhood policy, including a discussion of the paradigm shift from treatment to prevention, human capital theory, and monetary payoffs. Exceptional Returns: Economic, Fiscal, and Social Benefits of Investment in Early Childhood Development (PDF - 276 KB) Economic Policy Institute (2004) Estimates the likely benefits to future government budgets, the economy, and crime, if investments were made in a high quality, large-scale early childhood development program. If a nationwide program were implemented, the net budget savings would reach $61 billion within 25 years. Making the Economic Case for Early Childhood Investment The Build Initiative (2005) Links to publications that address the economic benefits of investing in early childhood education and care, including resources that discuss scholarly research, public returns on investment, program efficiency, the business community, and more.

Updated on April 3, 2009