Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Child Dev. 2021 Sep;92(5):1698-1716. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13517. Epub 2021 Jan 27.
The study examines whether and why parental job loss may stifle early child development, relying on cohort data from the population of children born in Ireland in 2007-2008 (N = 6,303) and followed around the time of the Great Recession (2008-2013). A novel approach to mediation analysis is deployed, testing expectations from models of family investment and family stress. Parental job loss exacerbates problem behavior at ages 3 and 5 (.05-.08 SDs), via the channels of parental income and maternal negative parenting. By depressing parental income, job loss also hampers children's verbal ability at age 3 (.03 SDs). This is tied to reduced affordability of formal childcare, highlighting a policy lever that might tame the intergenerational toll of job loss.
本研究考察了父母失业是否以及为何会阻碍幼儿的早期发展，研究依赖于 2007-2008 年在爱尔兰出生的儿童队列数据（N=6303），并在大衰退期间（2008-2013 年）进行了跟踪。本研究采用了一种新的中介分析方法，检验了家庭投资和家庭压力模型的预期。父母失业通过父母收入和母亲负面教养的渠道，使 3 岁和 5 岁时的问题行为恶化（.05-.08SD）。通过降低父母收入，失业也阻碍了儿童在 3 岁时的语言能力（.03SD）。这与正规儿童保育费用的降低有关，突出了一个政策杠杆，可能会减轻失业带来的代际代价。
