Parental Investment in Childhood and Later Adult Well-Being: Can More Involved Parents Offset the Effects ofSocioeconomic Disadvantage?

Parental involvement in their children’s lives can have a lasting impact on wellbeing.More involved parents convey to their children that they are interested intheir development, and this in turn signals to the child that their future is valued.However, what happens in socio-economically disadvantaged homes? Can thesocial capital produced by greater parental involvement counteract some of theharmful effects of less financial capital? These questions are examined on theNational Child Development Study; a longitudinal study of children born inBritain in 1958. Results on a sample of children raised in two parent familiessuggest that parental involvement does matter, but that it depends on when itand poverty are measured, as well as the type of involvement and the gender ofthe parent. Father interest in education has the strongest impact on earlierpoverty, especially at age 11. Meanwhile, both father and mother interest inschool at age 16 have the largest direct impact on education. The frequency ofoutings with mother at age 11 also has a larger direct impact on education thanoutings with father, however, neither compare with the reduction in the povertyeffect as a result of father interest in school.[...]