Sex-Differences in Language and Socio-Emotional Skills: Evidence from Large Scale Studies of Very Young Children

Rosangela Bando and Florencia Lopez Boo

No 10315, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This study explores sex differences in language and socio-emotional skills on children 7 months to 6 years old in Latin-America. Females had a significant advantage in both dimensions. To our knowledge, this is the first study to document sex differences in these dimensions at a very young age. In part, we believe this is due to our uniquely large sample size. We found geographical and cultural variation across the countries under study did not affect the gap. Within countries, variation in family characteristics, parenting practices and health investments did not explain the gap. The identification of biological and environmental factors is necessary to inform whether policy should tailor inputs to ensure equality of opportunities.

Keywords: gender gaps; sex gaps; language; social skills; emotional skills; early childhood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I25 J13 J16 O15 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2016-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen, nep-lam and nep-ltv
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