The estimated cost to the Federal government of the recommendations in this chapter is $6.2 billion. We have indicated that two Federal programs geared to infants and children—wic and Head Start—should be extended to a much broader group of children in need of help. In fiscal year 1988 Federal outlays for the wic program totaled about $1.8 billion, and the program served 3.4 million people. The maximum potential number of people who could qualify for the program has been estimated at 6.5 million to 7.5 million, or about twice the number served today. If wic were made an entitlement program, and all of the people eligible on income grounds actually qualified and participated, its cost would increase by $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year.

WIC.

Households are eligible for wic if they qualify as nutritionally at risk and have incomes up to 185 percent of the Federal poverty line. It is probable that in practice the population that participated would be limited by the nutritional-risk requirement and the likelihood that some who are eligible would not participate. Thus, the actual additional cost of making wic an entitlement program would likely be less than the amounts noted above. To be on the safe side, however, we will assume that current costs double, and allocate an additional $1.7 billion for wic outlays (see Figure 2.2).

Head Start.

The Head Start program serves about one in five children aged three to five years old who are living in poverty, and only about one-fifth of those served are in full-day programs. Additional funding for the Head Start program could be used to cover more children, increase the proportion of children receiving full-day services, and extend coverage to children under three years old.

A report by the Congressional Budget Office suggested that the long-range impact of Head Start on such goals as increasing basic skills, avoiding crime, and finding employment is unclear as a result of the difficulty of finding adequate control groups. But the report pointed out that Head Start potentially could serve a number of more immediate purposes, including providing high-quality child care to children of working parents; increasing access to health screening, immunization, and a variety of social services; providing helpful cognitive stimulation to the children; offering employment and training to low-income adults; and making it possible for two parents to work.

Expanding Head Start will be more expensive than expanding wic. The annual cost per child served under Head Start has been estimated at $2,400, compared with