Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP17436
Authors: Daniela Del Boca; Chiara Pronzato; Lucia Schiavon
Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of parenting courses on families’ time use with their children in urban areas in Italy. Courses aimed at raising parental awareness of the importance of educational activities were offered in four cities (Naples, Reggio Emilia, Teramo and Palermo) within the framework of the social program “FA.C.E. Farsi Comunità Educanti” and with the cooperation of the institution “Con i Bambini”2. In order to conduct the impact evaluation3, we designed a randomized controlled trial involving random assignment of the families (mostly mothers). At the end of the intervention, we administered an assessment questionnaire both to the treatment group, which took the course, and to the control group, which did not. Comparing the outcomes, we find that attending the course increased families' awareness of the importance of educational activities for children, reading often to the children and spending more time with them.
Keywords: parenting; use of time; educational activities; randomized controlled trial
JEL Codes: J13; D1; I26
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| attending the parenting course (J13) | increased awareness of the importance of educational activities for children (I24) |
| attending the parenting course (J13) | increased frequency of reading to children (J13) |
| increased awareness of the importance of educational activities for children (I24) | increased frequency of reading to children (J13) |
| attending the parenting course (J13) | increased parental engagement (I24) |