Home Investments in Children

Abstract

By the time children enter first grade, significant differences in verbal and mathematical competence exist among them.1 These differences reflect variations in (1) inherent ability, and (2) the amounts of human capital acquired before the children reach the age of six.2 The stocks of acquired human capital reflect, in turn, varying inputs of time and other resources by parents, teachers, siblings, and the child. The process of acquiring preschool human capital is analogous to the acquisition of human capital through schooling or on-the-job training. Assuming a constant rental rate for human capital, earnings can be interpreted as a measure of capital stocks at later ages. The IQalso can be This research has been supported by grants to the National Bureau of Economic Research from the Office of Economic Opportunity and the National Institutes of Health.

Determinants of School Attainment of Boys and Girls In Turkey

“…Parents' education may represent their taste for schooling and 5 the genetic factors while mother's education may further reflect home investments since mothers are primary child care providers (Leibowitz, 1974). Mother's education may also represent permanent income, opportunity cost of mother's time in the labor market and efficient household production.…”

Mother or Market? Effects of Maternal Employment on the Intellectual Ability of 4-Year-Old Children

“…The impact of maternal employment on the child's development, seen from this perspective, depends on how it affects the quality and quantity of resources available to the child. On the one hand, the mother's employment may reduce the amount of time she spends with the child; thus it represents a reduction in the availability of one important resource that may enhance the child's development, the mother's time and responsiveness (Hill andStafford, 1974, 1985;Leibowitz, 1974). On the other hand, the mother's employment immediately contributes income to the household and may, thereby, provide a better level of goods and services for the child's nurturance and development.…”

Who benefits from homework assignments?

“…Time spent on child care varies however across families and is typically found to be positively correlated with socioeconomic background. Two early empirical studies on this topic are Leibowitz (1974) and Hill and Sta ord (1974) who both nd that higher educated mothers spend more time with their children than lower educated mothers. More recent empirical work can be found in Todd and Wolpin (2006); Kimmel and In the same study Cooper points out that the e ect of homework on achievement is grade dependent.…”