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THE BIZNOB – Global Business & Financial News – A Business Journal – Focus On Business Leaders, Technology – Enterpeneurship – Finance – Economy – Politics & LifestyleTHE BIZNOB – Global Business & Financial News – A Business Journal – Focus On Business Leaders, Technology – Enterpeneurship – Finance – Economy – Politics & Lifestyle

Economy

Economy

Starting school later could boost the U.S. economy by $83 million over 10 years

A recent study conducted by the RAND Corporation suggests that delaying the start of the school day until 8:30 a.m. could boost the U.S. economy by $83 billion over the course of a decade, madison.com reports.

Pediatric health experts have long argued that a later start to the school day would better accommodate teenagers’ sleep needs, and would improve students’ concentration, as well as their mental and physical health.

According to madison.com, up to 60 percent of teens do not sleep for the recommended eight to 10 hours per night. Researchers have correlated lack of sleep with suicidal thoughts and other adverse mental and physical health conditions.

Policymakers have been reluctant to delay the start of the school day, citing costs associated with rerouting bus schedules and making other necessary changes. However, RAND’s study finds that over the course of a few years, the economic benefits derived from a later beginning to the school day would outweigh the costs of implementing the change.

“A small change could result in big economic benefits over a short period of time for the U.S. In fact, the level of benefit and period of time it would take to recoup the costs from the policy change is unprecedented in economic terms,” said Marco Hafner, a senior analyst at RAND Europe who co-wrote the report.

The study identifies two primary factors that would precipitate economic growth if school started later. First, traffic fatalities would decrease. Therefore, more children would grow to adulthood and contribute to the country’s workforce.

The RAND study cites CDC and AAA data indicating that one in five fatal traffic accidents involves a tired driver. RAND also cites a study conducted in 2008 that found that starting school later would reduce the rate of traffic accidents by 16.5 percent.

Second, academic performance would improve, boosting high school graduation and college attendance rates. Another study indicated that giving students an additional hour of sleep would increase their likelihood of graduating high school by 8.6 percent, on average, and their likelihood attending college by 13.4 percent, on average.

Students who graduate high school stand to earn a higher income than those who do not. Those who attend and/or graduate college generally make higher wages than those who do not. Higher income means more spending and, therefore, increased economic contribution.

The economic benefits of the policy shift would increase at an accelerating rate over the first 15 years following the implementation of the policy. There would be no change in economic output one year after the shift, for the students graduating that year would have benefited from just one year of enhanced academic performance. After two years, though, the economy would grow by $9 billion; after five, by $37 billion; and after 15, by $140 billion.

RAND claims to have been conservative in many aspects of the study,

“Throughout the cost-benefit projections, we have taken a conservative approach when establishing the economic gains,” Hafner said. “We have not included other effects from insufficient sleep — such as higher suicide rates, increased obesity and mental health issues — which are all difficult to quantify precisely. Therefore, it is likely that the reported economic and health benefits from delaying school start times could be even higher across many U.S. states.”

Still, RAND says, the study supports the conclusion that a later school start time would benefit the nation’s economy as well as the health of students.

“From a policy perspective, the potential implications of the study are hugely important. The significant economic benefits from simply delaying school start times to 8.30 a.m. would be felt in a matter of years, making this a win-win, both in terms of benefiting the public health of adolescents and doing so in a cost-effective manner,” says said Wendy Troxel, a senior behavioral and social scientist at RAND who co-wrote the report.

Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons


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