Children and their parents resemble each other in terms of economic preferences such as patience and risk tolerance. What drives the intergenerational correlation in preferences? We build a model of preference formation that combines genetic transmission, state influence through childcare...

We study the relative effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and interaction of family- and schoolbased learning interventions using a randomized controlled trial in Colombia that assigns children to a parental engagement program, a teacher professional development program, both, or a control group....

Using data from the only large-scale randomized controlled trial promoting prolonged exclusive breastfeeding, we study how the intervention affected child health and why. The intervention increased weight-for-age in infancy, with effects persisting through adolescence. We show that treated...

In this study, we use data from the recent round of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) to estimate the effect of son preference on reproductive behaviour in Uzbekistan. We find strong evidence of differential stopping and spacing behaviour among Uzbek women. Women are significantly...

This study documents substantial heterogeneity in returns to education by childhood poverty status among Indonesian wage workers aged 15-35. Individuals who grew up poor earn only 1.5 percent per additional year of schooling-less than onefourth of the 6.8 percent earned by those who were never...

We study the relative effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and interaction of family- and school-based learning interventions using a randomized controlled trial in Colombia that assigns children to a parental engagement program, a teacher professional development program, both, or a control...

According to administrative data, as many as 25 million children between the ages of 5 and 16 are out-of-school in Pakistan. However, little is known about where these children are in relation to available public and private schooling options. This paper brings together novel data from satellite...

Less or more rain, forever pain? This paper examines the long-run and intergenerational effects of early-life exposure to droughts and wet shocks on human capital outcomes over the life course. Combining a unique three-decade longitudinal survey of pregnant mothers in Metropolitan Cebu, the...

Reducing poverty is a central policy priority in many countries, also in wealthy countries with comprehensive universal support systems, such as the Nordic welfare states. This study examines policy options designed to support families with preschool-aged children and their implications for...

Background: Socio-economic inequality and vaccination inequity have long been critical issues. However, no studies have explored the gap in influenza vaccination uptake between public and private schools. Importantly, the extent to which socio-economic inequality translates into vaccination...

The main objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the trust funded Rapid Social Response - Adaptive and Dynamic Social Protection (RSR-ADSP) Gender Window Round 21 grants. Particularly, the review focuses on evaluating the achievements and results of the grants,...

We study political shocks as potential birth outcomes stressors, specifically the unexpected result of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. We investigate this two-sided shock using an innovative data linkage: Colorado voter registrations and birth certificates, matched by sex, birth year, and...

China's One-Child Policy (OCP) restricted most couples to a single birth, leading to a rapid increase in the prevalence of only children. Using longitudinal data and a regression discontinuity design around the policy's start, we estimate the effects on grandchildren's human capital. We find...

This study examines the role of financial infrastructure in shaping child health outcomes in rural India, with a particular focus on whether access to rural banking mitigates the adverse effects of agricultural income shocks. Using data from the National Family and Health Surveys (NFHS), I...

This study examines the long-term impact of childhood exposure to Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) on adult human capital outcomes in the High Mountain Asia (HMA) region. Using historical GLOF data and geospatial mapping of downstream flood pathways, we identify treatment and control groups...

Africa remains the poorest and one of the most unequal regions globally, with limited upward mobility and strong intergenerational persistence of disadvantage. Child health is a key channel of transmission, shaping later outcomes in education, labour force participation, and earnings. This paper...

This paper investigates child poverty in Germany through a multidimensional lens, combining Sen’s Capability Approach and Bourdieu’s Capital Theory to develop a adapted Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for children above 11 and youth aged 17. Drawing on data from the German...

This paper provides the first evidence that children's economic preferences vary systematically with parental mental health. Using experimentally elicited measures of economic preferences from more than 4,500 children in Bangladesh, we document that children of parents with indications of mental...

The Head Start program, launched in 1965 and targeted to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, remains the largest early childhood care and education (ECE) program in the United States and the only one deployed at the federal level. As such, the Head Start literature spans several decades and...

We study the causal effect of maternal criminal victimization on child health using linked police reports and birth records from Brazil. Focusing on robbery and theft - everyday crimes not involving physical injury - we show that victimization during pregnancy increases low birthweight by 6.9...

This paper investigates the labour market consequences of motherhood in Italy, with a focus on how institutional and local contexts shape the child penalty. Using administrative data from the Italian National Social Security Institute (INPS), we track the labour market trajectories of mothers in...

There is continued debate, with important social consequences, about how social status is transmitted between parents and children. In particular, how much does genetics as opposed to social causation matter? In an ingenious recent article, Collado et al. (2023), using an extended family lineage...

Early childhood programmes frequently lose effectiveness at scale, yet the role of the workforce remains poorly understood. We document substantial heterogeneity in workforce effectiveness in England's national home-visiting programme for first-time teenage mothers, despite a highly-structured...

Child soldiering has been identified as one of the most prevalent human rights violations perpetrated by rebels. The aim of this research is to elucidate the potential influence of third parties, external supporters, on child soldiering by rebels. The research hypothesises that rebel's...

This study documents a new fact about educational production: Students' relative standing in noncognitive skills has lasting effects on educational trajectories that are distinct from those of absolute skill levels and cognitive achievement. Using administrative data covering the universe of...

This paper investigates the long-term economic consequences of childhood nutrition in the Philippines, focusing on the mediating roles of cognitive development and schooling. Using longitudinal data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS), we apply a sequential mediation...

This paper examines the role of sibling sex composition as a potential explanation of the transmission of parental advantages to the next generation. The presence of a brother affects the family environment and parents' decisions, influencing the siblings' labour market outcomes in the long...

Persistent gender gaps in the labor market are largely driven by the underrepresentation of women at the top of most professions. We study how parenthood shapes gender gaps in academic careers using population-wide administrative and survey data linked to productivity and promotion records....

This article assesses the impact of parents working from home on children's academic performance in high school. Using French data, we draw on the fact that, within each major social group, not all families have been equally exposed to the recent rise in work from home (WFH), depending on the...

We leverage the introduction of the first antibiotic therapies in 1937 to examine the long run effects of early childhood pneumonia on adult educational attainment, employment, income, and work-related disability. Using census data, we document large average gains on all outcomes, alongside...

This study examines the career aspirations of economically disadvantaged Filipino children participating in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the Philippines' flagship conditional cash transfer program. Using data from 9,958 children aged 10 to 25 collected through the Fourth Wave...

This paper provides large-scale evidence linking the economic effects of childcare programs to social skills measured in adulthood. We examine Finland's first national public childcare program, and document that it increased parental labor supply -through retirement- while reducing the...

Using unique administrative data that link privately held firm owners to rich background information, we provide novel evidence on underage children as firm owners. Ownership occurs at all ages 0--17, with a mean age of 12. Childhood ownership is strongly concentrated among high-income families,...

The Head Start program, launched in 1965 and targeted to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, remains the largest early childhood care and education (ECE) program in the United States and the only one deployed at the federal level. As such, the Head Start literature spans several decades and...