Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP9485
Authors: Guyonne Kalb; Jan C. van Ours
Abstract: This paper investigates the importance of parents reading to their young children. Using Australian data we find that parental reading to children at age 4 to 5 has positive and significant effects on reading skills and cognitive skills of these children at least up to age 10 or 11. Our findings are robust to a wide range of sensitivity analyses.
Keywords: cognitive skills; reading to children
JEL Codes: C26; I21; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Children's reading skills (G53) | Cognitive skills (G53) |
| Parental reading intensity (D15) | Cognitive skills (G53) |
| Parental reading (Y50) | Children's reading skills (G53) |
| Parental reading (Y50) | Children's cognitive skills (G53) |
| Higher birth order (J19) | Children's educational outcomes (I21) |