Xin Gong and Di Xu(Columbia University ) Wen-Jui Han(New York University )

Published on :Child Development, January/February 2015, Volume 86, Number 1, Pages 194–208


This article draws upon the literature showing the benefits of high-quality preschools on child well-being to
explore the role of household income on preschool attendance for a cohort of 3- to 6-year-olds in China using
data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, 1991–2006. Analyses are conducted separately for rural
(N = 1,791) and urban (N = 633) settings. Estimates from a probit model with rich controls suggest a positive
association between household income per capita and preschool attendance in both settings. A household
fixed-effects model, conducted only on the rural sample, finds results similar to, although smaller than, those

from the probit estimates. Policy recommendations are discussed.