Abstract
AbstractA key challenge in developing countries interested in providing early childhood development (ECD) programmes at scale is whether these programmes can be effectively delivered through existing public service infrastructures. We present the results of a randomised experiment evaluating the effects of a home-based parenting programme delivered by cadres in China’s Family Planning Commission (FPC)—the former enforcers of the one-child policy. We find that the programme significantly increased infant skill development after six months and that increased investments by caregivers alongside improvements in parenting skills were a major mechanism through which this occurred. Children who lagged behind in their cognitive development and received little parental investment at the onset of the intervention benefited most from the programme. Household participation in the programme was associated with the degree to which participants had a favourable view of the FPC, which also increased due to the programme.
Highlights
A growing body of cross-disciplinary research highlights the importance of a child’s environment in the first years of life for skill development and outcomes over the life course (Knudsen et al, 2006)
Because we estimate treatment effects on multiple outcomes, we present p-values adjusted for multiple hypotheses using the step-down procedure of ED Romano and Wolf (2005, 2016) which controls for the familywise error rate (FWER)15
We find that the program IN significantly increase parenting skills with an overall increase of 0.323 standard deviation in parenting skill found in treatment villages (Panel A)
Summary
We are grateful to the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), the UBS Optimus Foundation, the China Medical Board, the Bank of East Asia, the Huaqiao Foundation, and Noblesse for project funding and to Jo Swinnen and. We would like to thank Jim Heckman for his support and conversations and acknowledge. L the support of Shasha Jumbe and the Gates Foundation’s Healthy Birth, Growth and Development Knowledge Integration (HBGDki), China Program
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