Public preschool programs can be universal, open to all age-eligible children, or targeted, with eligibility limited to children from lower-income families. The effects on children of targeted programs have been intensively studied in the US, with results showing substantial beneficial impacts on child development and subsequent adult outcomes for disadvantaged children. However, there is little reliable evidence on the medium and long run effects of universal preschool programs in the US. This paper reviews studies from Europe that have exploited quasi-experimental variation to estimate the causal impact of universal public preschool eligibility and enrollment on child and adult outcomes. The evidence shows that these programs provide substantial short and long run benefits to disadvantaged children, but relatively modest benefits to more advantaged children. The implications of the European evidence for the issue of universal versus targeted programs in the US are discussed.

公开的学前教育计划可以是普遍的，对所有年龄段的儿童开放，也可以针对性地，其资格仅限于来自低收入家庭的孩子。在美国，针对有针对性的计划对儿童的影响已进行了深入研究，结果显示对儿童发育以及弱势儿童随后的成年结局具有实质性的有益影响。但是，在美国普遍的学前教育计划对中长期影响没有可靠的证据。本文回顾了来自欧洲的研究，这些研究利用准实验差异来估计普遍的公立学前教育资格和入学对儿童和成人结局的因果关系。证据表明，这些方案为处境不利的儿童提供了实质性的短期和长期利益，但为处境不利的儿童提供了相对适度的利益。