Capital Investments: Contributions to the School Readiness of Children of Adolescent Mothers

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Abstract

Despite facing a number of risk factors that are often associated with poor educational outcomes, some children of teenage mothers succeed in the face of adversity. One measure of educational promise that occurs in early childhood is school readiness. This paper analyzes the readiness to enter school of a cohort of children born to adolescent mothers in 2001 (N=600). Children of adolescent mothers benefit from increased levels of social capital provided by their mothers in the form of certain parenting practices. In particular, teen mothers who participate in a greater amount of language interaction with their children (including more telling stories, reading activities, and conversation) have children with higher socioemotional and behavioral school readiness scores.

Author

• Erin Powell Baumgartner, The Pennsylvania State University