AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Beyond Time and Money: Parental Occupation and Early Childhood Development
AEA Papers and Proceedings
(pp. 605–610)
Abstract
This paper examines how parental occupation shapes early cognitive and noncognitive child development. Using the Millennium Cohort Study and the British Household Panel Survey, I document that parents allocate time in home production and market work differently across occupations. Estimating a system of simultaneous equations through three-stage least squares, I find that parental occupation is an important determinant of child skill formation beyond time and money: Maternal employment is associated with higher cognitive and noncognitive skills, while paternal self-employment is associated with higher noncognitive skills. Returns to parental time are higher among college-educated parents, consistent with skill-biased parenting.Citation
Suh, Hyun Soo. 2026. "Beyond Time and Money: Parental Occupation and Early Childhood Development." AEA Papers and Proceedings 116: 605–610. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20261122Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D13 Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity