%0 Generic
%A Macmillan, Lindsey
%A Tominey, Emma
%C Bonn, Germany
%D 2019
%F discovery:10152425
%I IZA - Institute of Labor Economics
%K child development, test scores, socio-emotional skills, parental inputs, decomposition, ALSPAC
%N 12792
%T Parental Inputs and Socio-Economic Gaps in Early Child Development
%U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10152425/
%X 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.
%Z This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.