BATON ROUGE - A new report by the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children says early childhood education is essential in addressing Louisiana's labor force needs.

The findings say that expanding early childhood education access could generate up to $3.2 billion in additional earnings, $5.3 billion in economic output statewide and $129 million in new state tax collections. 

"And what we found out is, it pays off in our economy and we have more economic output. We have more investment in our economy and Louisiana stronger because we have stronger children," Libbie Sonnier, CEO for the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, said.

The new report debuted at the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. You can see the address here.