Working Paper: NBER ID: w28217
Authors: Asta Breinholt; Dalton Conley
Abstract: A growing literature points to children’s influence on parents’ behavior, including parental investments in children. Further, previous research has shown differential parental response by socioeconomic status to children's birth weight, cognitive ability, and school outcomes – all early life predictors of later socioeconomic success. This study considers an even earlier, more exogenous predictor of parental investments: offspring genotype. Specifically, we analyze (1) whether children’s genetic propensity towards educational success affects parenting during early childhood; and (2) whether parenting in response to children’s genetic propensity towards educational success is socially stratified. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Survey of Parents and Children (N=7,738), we construct polygenic scores for educational attainment and regress cognitively stimulating parenting behavior during early childhood on these polygenic scores. We use a range of modeling strategies to address the concern that child’s genotype may be proxying unmeasured parent characteristics. Results show that parents provide more cognitive stimulation to children with higher education polygenic scores. This pattern varies by socioeconomic status with college-educated parents responding less to children’s genetic propensity towards educational success than non-college-educated parents do.
Keywords: parenting; genotype; socioeconomic status; cognitive stimulation; early childhood investment
JEL Codes: D13; I14; I24; J13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| higher polygenic scores for educational attainment in children (I24) | increased cognitively stimulating parenting behaviors (D91) |
| college-educated parents provide less additional cognitive stimulation in response to children's genetic propensities (D29) | non-college-educated parents provide more cognitive stimulation in response to children's genetic propensities (D29) |
| children's genetic traits (J13) | parental investment strategies (J13) |