When do socioeconomic resources matter most in early childhood?

Abstract

Research has established the importance of early socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage for understanding later life outcomes, but less is known about change in the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and child development within the period of early childhood. Competing hypotheses drawn from the literature posited: (1) a stable SES-development relationship, (2) a stronger relationship in infancy than at older ages, and (3) a stronger relationship at school entry than at younger ages. Using the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (2001–2007), we followed 8600 children from infancy through kindergarten entry to model change over time in the relationship between socioeconomic status and cognitive and behavioral development. The unexpected main finding was that the relationships between three socioeconomic measures (household income, assets, and maternal educational attainment) strengthened from infancy through age 4 or 4½, then weakened slightly until the start of kindergarten. Indirect evidence suggested preschool education as one possible explanation. We argue for researchers to expand the school transition concept to include the now widespread prekindergarten year, as well as for attention to psychological and physiological developmental factors that may shape the relationship between SES and cognitive and behavioral development throughout early childhood.

Childhood socioeconomic position and physical capability in late-middle age in two birth cohorts from the Copenhagen aging and midlife biobank

“…Literature suggests that the well-established social gradient in physical capability partly originates in early life [ 1 – 12 ]. The relation is suggested to pass through intermediate factors such as childhood growth and development (cognitive and physiological), adult socioeconomic position (SEP), health behavior and health status [ 5 , 13 ]. Childhood SEP could be of particular importance because of its impact on the physiologic reserve from which age-related decline begins [ 14 ].…”

Neonatal developmental and behavioral outcomes of immediate delivery versus expectant monitoring in mild hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: 5-year outcomes of the HYPITAT II trial

“…Additionally, the association between maternal education and behavioral outcomes at 2 and 5 [ 1 2 7 _ T D $ D I F F ] years old emerged. A possible explanation for poorer developmental outcome at 2 years of age in the immediate delivery group, and the absence of this difference at 5 [ 1 2 7 _ T D $ D I F F ] years could be that environmental factors such as maternal education and socio-economic status become more important for development at older ages [33]. Additionally, if a developmental delay is noticed early, early interventions at daycare or school can improve later development [34,35].…”

Preschoolers Benefit Equally From Video Chat, Pseudo-Contingent Video, and Live Book Reading: Implications for Storytime During the Coronavirus Pandemic and Beyond

“…At the second site, a Midwestern University, participants were recruited from local early childcare centers. As reading practices have been shown to differ across socioeconomic status (SES; Huebner, 2000 ), we assessed whether conditions differed by caregivers’ education, a core dimension of SES ( Molborn et al, 2014 ). Two ANOVA’s revealed that primary caregivers’ [ F (2,55) = 0.565, p = 0.571] and secondary caregivers’ [ F (2,54) = 0.405, p = 0.669] education did not differ by condition.…”