Single-mother families and the gender gap in children’s time investment and non-cognitive skills

Letizia Mencarini (), Silvia Pasqua and Agnese Romiti ()

Review of Economics of the Household, 2019, vol. 17, issue 1, No 6, 149-176

Abstract: Abstract This paper analyzes the role of family structure in the gender gap in children’s time investment in studying and non-cognitive skills. We focus on Italy, a country that, similar to many other OECD countries, is experiencing both an increasing number of single-parent families (most of which are headed by mothers) and an increasing gender gap in children’s cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. By using a difference-in-differences specification comparing children’s outcomes in single- vs. two-parent families for boys compared to girls, we analyze the differential effect across gender of living with a single mother on both the amount of time spent studying and the amount of effort put into studying. Our analysis suggests that living in a single-mother family has a more detrimental effect on boys, though all children—regardless of gender—receive fewer parental inputs if they live with a single mother. The greater detrimental effect of living with a single mother for boys seems to be driven by less educated, less well-off families or families with working mothers.

Keywords: Children time investment; Non-cognitive skill; Single-mother families (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11150-017-9385-x

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