Working Paper: NBER ID: w22168
Authors: Jason Fletcher; Barbara L. Wolfe
Abstract: Little is known about the relationship between family income and children’s non-cognitive (or socio-emotional) skill formation. This is an important gap, as these skills have been hypothesized to be a critical link between early outcomes and adult socioeconomic status. This paper presents new evidence of the importance of family income in the formation and evolution of children’s non-cognitive skills using a recent US panel dataset that tracks children between grades K-5. Findings suggest an important divergence in non-cognitive skills based on family income that accumulates over time and does not seem to be explained by children’s health status differences.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: I21; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Family income (D31) | Noncognitive skills (G53) |
| Family income (D31) | Socioemotional skills (Z13) |
| Family income (D31) | Noncognitive skills accumulation (J24) |
| Family income (D31) | Noncognitive skills gap (D29) |