For the prekindergarten program
alone, they identified $ 92,220 in present value benefits and $ 8,512 in present value costs in 2007 dollars — a benefit - cost ratio of 10.83 to 1.22 The benefits derived mainly from reduced public education expenditures due to lower grade retention and use of special education, reduced costs to the criminal justice
system and victims of crime due to lower crime rates, reduced expenditures on
child welfare due to less
child abuse and neglect, higher projected earnings of center participants, and increased income tax revenue due to projected higher lifetime earnings of center participants.