Committee for Economic Development

For over 50 years, with research and tools provided by CED, corporate leaders have been speaking to audiences of business and civic leaders about the importance of investing in children and families. CED's network of Trustees has directed CED's long history of research reports connecting the importance of early learning to the strength of the workforce and economic development.

At both the state and national level, CED's Trustees have led roundtable discussions and thought forums in support of building the economic case for investing in early childhood education. In addition, CED has supported several working papers by leading experts on "work and family" featuring Ellen Galinsky, President of the Families and Work Institute, and economists including Nobel Laureate James J. Heckman of the University of Chicago. CED's reports continue to support consideration of national legislation to improve the quality of child care and expand quality and access to Pre-K programs.

CED's reports include:

• Innovation in Education: New Directions for the American School (1968);
• Education for the Urban Disadvantaged: from Preschool to Employment (1971);
• Investing in Our Children: Business and the Public Schools (1985);
• Children in Need: Investment Strategies for the Economically Disadvantaged (1987);
• An America that Works: The Life-Cycle Approach to a Competitive Workforce (1990);
• The Unfinished Agenda: A New Vision for Child Development and Education (1991);
• Preschool for All: Investing in a Productive and Just Society (2002);
• Education Before School: Investing in Quality Child Care (1993);
• Why Child Care Matters: Preparing Young Children for a More Productive America (1993);
• Developmental Education: The Value of High-Quality Preschool Investments as Economic Tools (2004);
• The Economic Promise of Investing in High Quality Preschool: Using Early Education to Improve Economic Growth & the Fiscal Sustainability of States and the Nation (2006);
• Unfinished Business: Continued Investment in Child Care and Early Education is Critical to Business and America's Future (2012);
• Economic Role of Paid Child Care in the U.S. (2022), and most recently
• Child Care in State Economies (2024, 2019, and 2015).