Does Household Poverty Alleviation Support Early Childhood Development? An Exploratory Study in Rural China

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Health and Well-Being in Early Childhood (Table 11)

Abstract

This study investigated whether participation in China's Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) program, which aims to achieve sustainable livelihood initiatives, would support children's early development such as cognitive, language, motor, and socio-emotional, in addition to the primary goal of poverty alleviation. The sample consisted of 1,415 households with children aged 18-42 months from 33 rural townships in southwestern China. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed a positive correlation between TPA participation and early socio-emotional development; however, no significant correlations were found for cognitive, language, or motor development. Parental care-not parental investment-was found to mediate the relationship between TPA engagement and socio-emotional development. These results suggest that poverty alleviation programs have the potential to promote early childhood development through increased parental care.

Authors

• Li Huang, The Southwest University of China

• Jin Sun, University of Macau

• Ling Li, Southwest University