Wealth Gradients in Early Childhood Cognitive Development in Five Latin American Countries

Schady, Norbert; Behrman, Jere R.; Araujo, María Caridad; Azuero, Rodrigo; Bernal, Raquel; Bravo, David; Bóo, Florencia López; Macours, Karen; Marshall, Daniela; Paxson, Christina; Vakis, Renos

doi:10.3368/jhr.50.2.446

Cited by 141 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…The reflection of the existing large income inequalities in Latin America (World Bank, 2018). Similar deficits, of approximately 1 SD, on the PPVT have been documented in urban Colombia on ELCA data among children aged 9 years (Bernal, Martínez, & Quintero, 2015), in rural Ecuador and Nicaragua at ages 8-13 and 7-9 years (Schady et al, 2015), in Madagascar at ages 7-10 years (Galasso et al, 2017), and in two of the four countries in the Young Lives Study at ages 8 (Lopez-Boo, 2016;Reynolds et al, 2017) and 12 years (Reynolds et al, 2017). This study confirms the size of the deficit with a full IQ assessment and school achievement tests.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…In Senegal, and to some extent in Peru, where differences were already significant at 4 months of age, gaps remained constant with age. Socio-economic deficits have also been shown in children 36 months and older in similar maternal reports on development in very poor countries, such as Cambodia and Mozambique (Naudeau, Martinez, Premand, & Filmer, 2011), and on direct assessments of vocabulary in various LMICs in Latin America: Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Peru (Schady et al, 2015). However, cross-sectional studies can be misleading when examining change with age and following the same children over time provides more robust evidence.…”

mentioning

confidence: 57%

“…In Madagascar, differences in cognition, executive function, and language between children from richer/poorer families and between children whose mothers had/ did not have secondary education doubled between the ages of 3 and 6 years (Fernald, Weber, Galasso, & Ratsifandrihamanana, 2011) and continued to increase with age before leveling off at ages 9-10 (Galasso, Weber, & Fernald, 2017). In contrast, in the Latin American studies (Schady et al, 2015) where children were retested, the size of the socio-economic gradients in vocabulary did not change from ages 4-5 years to ages 8-9 (rural and urban Peru) or to ages 12-13 (rural Ecuador). The exception was rural Nicaragua where gaps widened from ages 4.5 to 7 years.…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

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Evolution of the wealth gap in child development and mediating pathways: Evidence from a longitudinal study in Bogota, Colombia

Rubio‐Codina¹,

Grantham‐McGregor

2019

Developmental Science

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Large gaps in cognition and language on the Bayley‐III between the top and bottom household wealth quartiles in 1,330 children aged 6–42 months in a representative sample of low‐ and middle‐income families in Bogota were previously shown. Maternal education and the home environment mediated these wealth effects, whereas height‐for‐age mediated a small amount of the language deficit only. At ages 6–8 years, we relocated 72% of the children and assessed their IQ on the WISC‐V, school achievement, and behavior to investigate the evolution of the wealth gaps and potential mediators. The wealth gap in IQ at 6–8 years was significantly larger than that in a factor combining Bayley‐III language and cognition at 6–42 months; whereas the gap in achievement was larger but not significantly. Moreover, in cross‐sectional analysis, the IQ gap increased from 6 to 8 years reaching over 1 SD. In contrast, the gap in behavior was not significant in either childhood stage. Parental education and early home environment remained major mediators of the wealth gap in IQ and achievement at 6–8 years; later home environment and attending private education also had an effect; and early height‐for‐age was no longer significant. The home environment partly mediated the effect of parental education on wealth. All mediators combined explained most of the variance in the wealth gap; the remaining gaps being not significant. Results highlight the importance of the early home environment and suggest that interventions focusing on that should have long‐term benefits. Also, continued intervention through to 8 years may be desirable. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/_U53iXNww3I.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

mentioning

confidence: 57%

mentioning

confidence: 94%

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Evolution of the wealth gap in child development and mediating pathways: Evidence from a longitudinal study in Bogota, Colombia

Rubio‐Codina¹,

Grantham‐McGregor

2019

Developmental Science

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“…Schady et al (2012) show that, by the time they enter school, the already behind. Schady et al (2012) show that, by the time they enter school, the poorest children in rural Chile are about two-thirds of a standard deviation behind poorest children in rural Chile are about two-thirds of a standard deviation behind where they should be on their performance on a test (the Spanish-speaking version where they should be on their performance on a test (the Spanish-speaking version of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test) that has been shown to be highly predictive of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test) that has been shown to be highly predictive of school failure; in Colombia and Ecuador these delays are about one-and-a-half of school failure; in Colombia and Ecuador these delays are about one-and-a-half standard deviations; and in Nicaragua and Peru, the poorest children in rural standard deviations; and in Nicaragua and Peru, the poorest children in rural areas are more than two standard deviations behind, which implies delays of about areas are more than two standard deviations behind, which implies delays of about two years in their cognitive development. two years in their cognitive development.…”

Section: Schoolingmentioning

confidence: 95%

Latin America's Social Policy Challenge: Education, Social Insurance, Redistribution

Levy

Schady

2013

Journal of Economic Perspectives

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199

156

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Long regarded as a region beset by macroeconomic instability, high inflation, and excessive poverty and inequality, Latin America has undergone a major transformation over the last 20 years. The region has seen improved macroeconomic management and substantial and sustained reductions in poverty and inequality. In this paper, we argue that social policy, including human capital and education, social insurance, and redistribution, need special attention if achievements of the last two decades are to be sustained and amplified. Starting in the mid 1990s, many governments in the region introduced a variety of programs, including noncontributory pensions and health insurance, and cash transfers targeted to the poor. Social spending in Latin America increased sharply. These policies have been widely praised, and we believe they have resulted in substantial improvements in the lives of the poor in the region. However, a more nuanced view shows some worrisome trends. Moving forward, we believe it is necessary to pay much closer attention to the quality of services, particularly in education; to the incentives generated by the interplay of some programs, particularly in the labor market; to a more balanced intertemporal distribution of benefits, particularly between young and old; and to sustainable sources of finance, particularly to the link between contributions and benefits.

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“…• Performance on the MSEL was significantly associated with measures of physical growth. and IQ (e.g., Schady et al, 2015), which provide useful information but are not suitable for young, pre-verbal children. Thus, if studies are to measure cognitive development during early life, assessment methods suitable for this age need to be identified.…”

Section: Measuring Infant Development In Lmicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning for use among infants aged 5‐ to 24‐months in rural Gambia

Milosavljevic

Vellekoop²,

Maris

et al. 2019

Developmental Science

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Infants in low‐resource settings are at heightened risk for compromised cognitive development due to a multitude of environmental insults in their surroundings. However, the onset of adverse outcomes and trajectory of cognitive development in these settings is not well understood. The aims of the present study were to adapt the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) for use with infants in a rural area of The Gambia, to examine cognitive development in the first 24‐months of life and to assess the association between cognitive performance and physical growth. In Phase 1 of this study, the adapted MSEL was tested on 52 infants aged 9‐ to 24‐months (some of whom were tested longitudinally at two time points). Further optimization and training were undertaken and Phase 2 of the study was conducted, where the original measures were administered to 119 newly recruited infants aged 5‐ to 24‐months. Infant length, weight and head circumference were measured concurrently in both phases. Participants from both phases were split into age categories of 5–9 m (N = 32), 10–14 m (N = 92), 15–19 m (N = 53) and 20–24 m (N = 43) and performance was compared across age groups. From the ages of 10–14 m, Gambian infants obtained lower MSEL scores than US norms. Performance decreased with age and was lowest in the 20–24 m old group. Differential onsets of reduced performance were observed in the individual MSEL domains, with declines in visual perception and motor performance detected as early as at 10–14 months, while reduced language scores became evident after 15–19 months of age. Performance on the MSEL was significantly associated with measures of growth.

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Wealth Gradients in Early Childhood Cognitive Development in Five Latin American Countries

Cited by 141 publications

References 19 publications

Evolution of the wealth gap in child development and mediating pathways: Evidence from a longitudinal study in Bogota, Colombia

Evolution of the wealth gap in child development and mediating pathways: Evidence from a longitudinal study in Bogota, Colombia

Latin America's Social Policy Challenge: Education, Social Insurance, Redistribution

Adaptation of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning for use among infants aged 5‐ to 24‐months in rural Gambia

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