@misc{discovery10152425, title = {Parental Inputs and Socio-Economic Gaps in Early Child Development}, note = {This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.}, series = {IZA Discussion Paper}, journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal}, publisher = {IZA - Institute of Labor Economics}, address = {Bonn, Germany}, month = {November}, number = {12792}, year = {2019}, author = {Macmillan, Lindsey and Tominey, Emma}, url = {https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/12792/parental-inputs-and-socio-economic-gaps-in-early-child-development}, issn = {2365-9793}, keywords = {child development, test scores, socio-emotional skills, parental inputs, decomposition, ALSPAC}, abstract = {By the time children start school, socio-economic gaps are evident in child skills. We document a causal effect of a reform to mothers' education on her child's skills and use mediation analysis to explore the role of parental inputs as mechanisms. The reform shifted mothers' education from no, to a low level of qualifications. Our results suggest that financial resources are an important channel, explaining up to 59\% of the effect on child cognitive skills. On top of this, parental investments of health behaviours during pregnancy and monetary investments at home explain a further 14\% of the test score gaps.} }