This project aims to advance our understanding of disparities in child development by parental socioeconomic status (SES). It leverages rich cohort and administrative data from six countries - France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States – embedding them in a harmonized framework. The project moves beyond cross-sectional and single country snapshots by studying the question of how inequalities develop over time (ages 3 to 16), what factors may influence inequalities and how national context may strengthen or buffer these processes. Child development is conceptualised broadly, to include cognitive, social/emotional and health outcomes, recognizing the interplay of multiple spheres of development in childhood. The specific aims of the project are: 1) to provide new evidence on the extent and sources of inequalities in early childhood and at the start of school, in particular on the role of parenting/home environment and preschool; 2) to describe trajectories of child development, and identify factors such as parental involvement and parent-school interactions that reduce/increase inequalities as children move through primary school; and 3) to describe inequalities at the start of secondary school and analyze trajectories of development, and factors such as school type and tracking that reduce/increase inequalities, as children move through secondary school; allowing throughout for heterogeneous effects across the ability distribution.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
France, Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA
