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Reading to young children: A head-start in life?

Guyonne Kalb and Jan C. van Ours

Economics of Education Review, 2014, vol. 40, issue C, 1-24

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 4–5 has positive and significant effects on reading skills and cognitive skills (including numeracy skills) of these children at least up to age 10 or 11. The effects on skills more closely related to reading and language are larger than those on skills such as numeracy skills. However, all findings in relation to reading and other cognitive skills are persistent and robust to a wide range of sensitivity analyses. Although reading to children is also correlated with children's non-cognitive skills, after accounting for the endogeneity of reading to children, no causal effect remains.

Keywords: Reading to children; Reading skills; Other cognitive skills (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C26 I21 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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Working Paper: Reading to young children: a head-start in life? (2013) Downloads
Working Paper: Reading to Young Children: A Head-Start in Life? (2013) Downloads
Working Paper: Reading to Young Children: A Head-Start in Life? (2013) Downloads
Working Paper: Reading to Young Children: A Head-Start in Life? (2013) Downloads
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:40:y:2014:i:c:p:1-24

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.01.002

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