This paper assesses whether the results of child achievement tests affect maternal employment and the child-care choices of mothers with prekindergarten children. To test this hypothesis, it first incorporates into Bernal and Keane’s (2010) model the mother’s imperfect knowledge of the...

We use unique data to estimate the determinants of cognitive ability among 14-17 year-olds in Senegal. Unlike standard school-based samples, tests were administered to current students as well as to children no longer - or never - enrolled. Years of schooling strongly affects cognitive skills,...

This paper develops an index of development for British children in the 1970 cohort, assessed at 22 months, 42 months, 5 years and 10 years. The score at 22 months predicts educational qualifications at age 26 and is related to family background. The children of educated or wealthy parents who...

We evaluate a reading intervention involving 600 third-grade students in Chilean schools catering to disadvantaged populations. The intervention features an adaptive computer game designed to identify and improve weaknesses in literacy and cognitive skills, and is complemented by a mobile...

This paper studies the interaction between parental and public inputs in children's skill formation. We perform a longer-run follow-up study of a randomized controlled trial that increased preschool quality and initially improved skills significantly for children of all backgrounds. There is,...

Forced displacement is a major driver of mental health disorders among refugees globally. The mental well-being of adult refugees, particularly mothers, is widely recognized as a crucial determinant of their children's psychological health and development. In this study, we conducted a...

The multigenerational social mobility literature is mainly interested in the direct effect of grandparent resources on grandchildren’s outcomes, that is, the effect not transmitted through any parent characteristics. Whereas this literature is ever-expanding, findings were inconclusive about...

In this paper we extensively analyze the impact of child health and other family characteristics on the cognitive achievement of children between the ages of five and nine. We estimate both cross sectional and fixed effects models using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth....