Leveling the Playing Field: Supporting Immigrant Children from Birth to Eight

Abstract

Many young children in immigrant families do not have good access to health and education services. To the extent that their life prospects are compromised as a result, these children--and the entire society--suffer. This article discusses the needs of children from birth to age eight, with a particular focus on the education needs of young children in immigrant families. Key observations include the following: * Children's skills in kindergarten and their achievement at the end of third grade are important predictors of their future life prospects. * Although well-designed early education and after school programs hold promise to reduce ethnic group-related inequalities in children's cognitive skills and social competence, children in immigrant families are less likely to participate in these programs than are children in native-born families. * Availability and access are important factors: When pre-kindergarten programs are offered in public schools, Hispanic and Asian American children are more likely to participate. * Family literacy programs are a promising strategy for improving the language skills of children in immigrant families, as well as their parents. The author concludes that policies that support the health and early education of all young children should be a national priority, and that universal programs open to all children with a minimum of barriers are most likely to be successful in facilitating the participation of young children of immigrant families. ********** Current policies and programs for American children from birth to eight have not kept pace with changing demographic diversity. Too many children--many of whom live in low-income, minority families--do not have good access to health and education services. They are disproportionately from American Indian, Alaskan and Native Hawaiian, and black population groups, and from certain Latino and Asian groups. Moreover, one in five children under age 18 in the United States today is the child of an immigrant, and immigrant children are the fastest growing segment of the nation's population of children. (See the article by Hernandez in this journal issue.) Children of immigrants also are disproportionately represented among the poor, and their poverty rates have increased dramatically over the past quarter century. In 1970, the poverty rate for children of immigrants was about 12%, but by 2002, the rate had nearly doubled to 23%. (1) Today, one in four low-income children is the child of an immigrant. Newcomer children and families, particularly those whose first language is not English, face considerable barriers to accessing programs and services. This lack of access violates the American value of equality of opportunity. Research provides clear direction for policies and programs that can be helpful in meeting the challenge of providing health and educational services for all children. Yet failure to address preventable problems such as poor health and disparities in early literacy is compromising the life prospects of significant numbers of America's children from an early age. Children are not the only ones who lose. The entire society suffers from the loss of their human capital, creativity, and productivity as family members, workers, and community members. In addition to requiring new ways to ensure effective delivery of services, the increasing diversity of American children raises yet another challenge: the creation and sustaining of a cohesive, socially integrated society that seeks the common good. The United States is not alone in facing this challenge. Policymakers and advocates can learn from the experiences of other nations as they seek to integrate newcomer children and their families into their societies. (2) What is unique about the United States in comparison to its peer nations, however, is the absence of a national family and child policy, and the absence of such a policy makes the task of building social cohesion much more difficult. …