2-076 - Sources and consequences of SES-based inequality in children's home environments

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The last 30 years have been marked by increasing income inequality, with stagnant incomes for families at the bottom of the distribution and sharp increases for those at the top of it. As the economic destinies of affluent and poor American families have diverged so too has the educational performance of the children in these families. However, there is reason to doubt that rising inequality in income alone has caused children’s achievement to diverge between rich and poor families. Parents do more than spend money on children’s development; they also spend time in cognitively enriching activities and provide emotional support and consistent discipline. This panel will investigate the sources and consequences of SES-based inequality in children’s home environments. Paper 1 draws on time diary and emotions data from the American Time Use Survey to demonstrate SES-based differences in parents’ positive and negative feelings in parenting activities and identify the role that feelings play in SES-based differences in parenting time. Paper 2 will rely on new data from a large longitudinal study of low-income families in Philadelphia. It develops an economic model of investment in children that features several sources of heterogeneity. Paper 3 draws on new analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to describe the home environments of children from birth through adolescence and to document the significant links between parenting quality and income, race, education, and family type. Our discussant will offer perspectives for research, intervention, and public policy.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chair

• Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago

Discussant

• Rebecca M Ryan, Georgetown University

Individual Presentations

• How Parents Feel When they Parent: Explaining Education-Based Differences in Time Use - Presenting Author: Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago; Susan Mayer, University of Chicago; Lisa Gennetian, The Brookings Institution

• An Economic Analysis of the Socio-Economic Gaps in Investments in Children - Presenting Author: Flavio Cunha, Rice University; Irma Elo, University of Pennsylvania; Jennifer Culhane, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

• Class Gaps in Parenting and Children’s Later-Life Outcomes - Presenting Author: Richard Reeves, The Brookings Institution