Fact-checking how much governments in US, other nations spend on early childcare

Economist and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich decried to his 1.4 million Twitter followers how relatively little the United States spends on early childhood care.

"Norway spends about $30,000 per child on early childhood care. Finland spends $23,000. Germany, $18,000. The U.S. spends $500 per child. In other words, 1/60th of what Norway spends on its toddlers. How do we expect to build a better future if we refuse to invest in our kids?" his Nov. 24 tweet read.

A reader asked us to check if Reich is right.

Reich, who served in the Clinton administration and is now at the University of California, Berkeley, cites a solid source on government spending figures, though there are other measures that show a smaller discrepancy.

The tweet was part of an opinion column Reich wrote in which he argued that America has "chosen to dramatically reduce poverty among the nation’s elderly but not among our children." 

A spokeswoman confirmed that Reich used rounded numbers based on a table included with an Oct. 6 New York Times article. 

Those figures show annual public spending per child on early childhood care, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Elizabeth Davis and Aaron Sojourner for the Hamilton Project:

Norway: $29,726

Finland: $23,353

Germany: $18,656

United States: $500

The first three figures appear in the OECD’s report "Education at a Glance 2021." The spending figures are for early childhood education programs targeting children under 3 years that have an educational component of at least the equivalent of 2 hours per day and 100 days a year. 

The report did not include a figure for the U.S. for children under age 3, but the Hamilton Project report, also cited as a source in the Times article, does, said one of the authors of the Hamilton Project report, University of Minnesota economist Aaron Sojourner. The figure for the U.S. is $500 per child. (The figure is $1,500 when preschoolers are included — children up to age 4.)

Joya Misra, professor of sociology and public policy and director of the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, pointed to different figures from the OECD that show a smaller disparity between the U.S. and the other countries. They show yearly public social spending on childcare for three age spans — 0 to 2 years, the "pre primary" 3 to 5 age group, and the combined 0 to 5 — divided by the population of each group.

In round numbers, the total figures Misra pointed to were:

Norway: $12,000

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Finland: $8,000

Germany: $7,000

United States: $3,000

Some economists emphasized that the figures show only what governments spend on child care, not how much in total is spent on child care.

"Americans have chosen mostly to pay for child care directly, while other countries have chosen to pay for child care indirectly via taxation," said Antony Davies, a Duquesne University professor and fellow at the conservative Foundation for Economic Education.

Jeffrey Miron, a Harvard University lecturer and director of economics studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said government spending can’t be considered in a vacuum.

"What matters to children is how much is spent on them, adding government and private expenditure," he said. "If government provides a lot, private spending will cut back."

Reich said: "Norway spends about $30,000 per child on early childhood care, Finland spends $23,000, Germany $18,000" and the U.S. $500.

He accurately cited figures from a solid source, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, but a different set of figures from the same organization shows a smaller discrepancy. The figures are for government spending, not total spending, on child care.

We rate the statement Mostly True.