President Lyndon B. Johnson created America’s head Start Program in 1965 as an initiative of the Great Society’s campaign. The objective of the organization was to help the American society deal with poverty and overcome the economic challenges faced by those who were struggling with poverty in America. A majority of children in the population of the United States had to struggle with education due to lack of nutrition in primary schools; family support was negligible. The NHSA (National Head Start Association) began as a program that would run for 8 weeks during the summer season in 1965 and 1966.
The main component of the program was providing nutrition to the children and engagement of their families to ensure that there was adequate support for them. Parental involvement ensured that a comprehensive learning process. Social Services, Community Involvement and Health were added to NHSA to ensure physical and mental development of the child. On Completion of 50 years NHSA, the efforts of the program have changed the definition of poverty in USA.
Basic Nationwide Macroeconomic and Firm Level Indicators: The Head Start has been showing progress over the years; for every dollar invested in Head Start the ROI (Return on Investment) yield is 7 to 9%. (Head Start Fact Sheet, National, 2014). The time series data touches on the following indicators over the past 10 to 15 years.
Funding Appropriations- The funds received have increased from $ 1 billion to $10 billion from the year 1965 to 2014.( Head Start Program Facts , 2014)
Employment Indicators- the NHSA has created about it refers to the number of people who are willing and able to work and they are actively seeking opportunities for employment. It employs about 2 million people; a great number when it’s a not for profit organization. The sequestration cuts of 2103 were unable to stop NHSA from raising funds of $ 4 million and providing employment opportunities. The State average salary for Head start teachers was $29,876 in 2014.
The US healthcare and social assistance industry has grown from 6.4% in 2006 to 7.1% in 2014. (US Industry of Commerce, 2014). This shows the industry growth has been slow but the efforts of NHSA have been commendable and have outdone the industry figures.
Deflation- it refers to the consistent decrease in the prices of goods and services within an economy over a certain period.USA has witnessed deflation over the years; dangerous for the economy. Despite this, he NHSA has served from 5 million to 31 million children over a time period of 50 years. The growth has been commendable keeping the sequestration cuts and dropping inflation (currently at 0.0%).
Firm Level Indicators
NHA is a nonprofit organization; the aim is to serve children living in poverty in USA ad giving them proper nutrition. Still an investment in Head Start gives a ROI of 7 to 9 % for every dollar.
Nationwide and firm level indicators differ in the sense that the former (nationwide indicators) refer to the effect of certain variables on the overall economy while the firm level indicators are specific to a particular firm.
The central theory and belief of the Keynesians are that the intervention by the government can lead to stable conditions in the economy. The government has been actively supporting the NHSA and has improved the lives of more than 32 million children. In October 2013 when the Federal government was shut down; NHSA still raised an amount of $ 4 million. The entire US Economy was suffering from recession and sequestration; devastating budget cuts in 2013 led to a drop in employment level and pay cuts in NHSA too.
Inflation, Unemployment and the Business Cycle of America’s Head Start Program
The inflation rate, which has been virtually flat for the most parts of the month and the financial year. The inflation predictor showed the long downward trend with the long downward trends with a minimum of approximately 1.85% in the mid year. Nevertheless, despite instances and possibilities of not having the runaway inflation rate, the Federal Reserve had maintained that there were significant worries concerning the inflation rates, especially with the prices ticking up at a rapid rate. As such, while the rising prices could allow the America’s Head Start Program to price or charge more on its products and services, the rise in the prices would lead to a considerable reduction in the sales.
One of the unemployment elements of the Head Start Program is the issue of unemployment compensation. In the recent past, the amount that the Head Start Programs pay for the unemployment, insurance has significantly risen to about $15.6 million in this year from about $9.8 million in the 1980s. The increase in the insurance is attributed to the vicious cycle where the rates of unemployment insurance increased due to the increase in the unemployment rate recorded among the staff members of Head Start.
The early Head Start programs have made notable accomplishments; the percentage of teachers at NHSA with Bachelor degree has increased from 38 to 66% in 2007. The program runs in 50 states throughout America and is administered by the department of Health and services. The past 50 years have seen improved quality of education, health facilities for pregnant women and an overall improvement in the family structure of those living in poverty
References
Head Start program Facts. (2014). Head Start. ECLKC. Retrieved from
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/data/factsheets/docs/hs-program-fact-sheet-2014.pdf
Industry Data. (2014). Bureau of Economic Analysis. US Department of Commerce. Retrieved from
http://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=51&step=1#reqid=51&step=51&isuri=1&5114=a&5102=5
The National Head start Association. 2014. Retrieved from
https://www.nhsa.org/about-us/mission-vision-history
