Socioeconomic Gaps in Early Childhood Experiences

Abstract

This study compares the early life experiences of kindergarteners in 1998 and 2010 using two nationally representative data sets. We find that (a) young children in the later period are exposed to more books and reading in the home, (b) they have more access to educational games on computers, and (c) they engage with their parents more, inside and outside the home. Although these increases occurred among low-and high-income children, in many cases the biggest changes were seen among the lowest-income children. Our results indicate narrowing but still large early childhood parental investment gaps. In addition, socioeconomic gaps in preschool participation grew over this period, despite substantial investments in public preschool. Implications for early socioeconomic achievement gaps are discussed.

Big Lift Participation and School Entry Indicators: Findings for the 2016–2017 Kindergarten Class

“…We also examined enrollment in any early learning experiences by the three income groups, presented in Figure 3. Similar to national trends (Bassok et al, 2016), the percentage of children in our sample who had some early learning experience (Big Lift preschool, non-Big Lift preschool, or BLIS) was highest among the most-affluent families (91 percent). However, slightly more than 85 percent of children living in households earning less than $50,000 also had some educational experience before entering kindergarten, and (not shown in the figure) 80 percent had a formal preschool experience (Big Lift or otherwise).…”

“…However, slightly more than 85 percent of children living in households earning less than $50,000 also had some educational experience before entering kindergarten, and (not shown in the figure) 80 percent had a formal preschool experience (Big Lift or otherwise). It is encouraging that such a high percentage of children from lower-income families enrolled in a preschool or summer program before starting kindergarten, particularly given national research suggesting large socioeconomic gaps in access to early childhood services (Bassok et al, 2016). Although we lack data from previous years for comparison, the Big Lift initiative may have contributed to the relatively high percentage of children who received early childhood services by increasing preschool slots, creating the BLIS program, and prioritizing programs for lowerincome families.…”

Income Inequality and Class Divides in Parental Investments

“…Extending the time series, Altintas (2016) finds that the gap in time spent in developmental child care between collegeeducated mothers of young children and mothers who had no more than a high school degree grew significantly from the mid-1970s through 2013, with wide gaps especially emerging in the recent period 2003-2013. However, the trends in class gaps in parental investment in children are not without nuance. Research harmonizing multiple data sets (including NLSY-CS, PSID-CDS, and ECLS) finds widening class gaps in formal child care and book ownership (Bassok et al, 2016), as well as in daily reading, frequent teaching of letters, words, or numbers, frequent story telling, visits to the zoo, a museum, and in going to a play or concert (Kalil et al, 2016), but narrowing gaps in computer use, learning activities at home, and out-of-home activities (Bassok et al, 2016) and in library visits (Kalil et al, 2016), with some suggestion that class gaps stopped increasing by 2005 or 2007 (Kalil et al, 2016).…”

Socioeconomic Gaps in Parents’ Discipline Strategies From 1988 to 2011

“…2 Although many studies examine the parenting gap and its implications, few examine how that gap may have changed over time. Studies that have examined changes over time focus on parents' engagement in cognitively stimulating activities 3,4 even though the quality of parents' socioemotional interactions with children also meaningfully shape early development. 5,6 Therefore, the current study investigates changes over time in the socioemotional parenting gap.…”