Child’s cognitive skills linked to time spent with mother

[Tennis]

It is a question that has troubled parents down the years. Just how much time should they spend with their children when they are growing up?

Now a new study suggests that the answer – at least for mothers – should be as much as they can afford to give. The study, by academics from the University of Essex and University College London, published in this week’s edition of the Economic Journal, finds that a young child’s cognitive and social skills are improved considerably by spending more time with their mother between the ages of three and seven.

It also found that first-born children tend to benefit more from an early investment of their mothers’ time than siblings born after them.

The study is the first of its kind in the UK – and one of the first in the world – to examine directly the relationship between the time mothers spend with their children and the skills those children go on to develop. It uses data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative study of infants born in the UK between September 2000 and January 2002.

The research, which analyses representative data on more than 8,000 children and their mothers, found that the positive effect of mothers spending time with their children was large. It was equivalent in magnitude to between 20% and 40% of the advantage that young children enjoy from having a mother with a university degree, as opposed to having a mother with no qualifications.

“Our results emphasise that the time spent by mothers with their children has a noticeable influence on early child development,” said one of the co-authors of the study, Professor Marco Francesconi. The researchers also found that the level of education attained by a mother has an effect on early years development.
Men's attitude to fatherhood influences child behaviour, says study

Time spent engaging in educational activities, such as reading, between the ages of three and five with a mother who has been educated beyond the minimum school-leaving age, leads to an increase in verbal skills at age seven that the authors suggest is significantly greater than achieved by children whose mothers are less well educated.


The authors acknowledged that their study fails to examine the role played by fathers. This is because fathers’ non-response rates in the Millennium Cohort Study were “extremely high”, resulting in a paucity of data.

The study’s publication will intensify the debate around working parents. The government plans to extend entitlement in England to free childcare from 15 to 30 hours a week for children aged three and four.

But new research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the University of Essex and the University of Warwick suggests that the measure will have only a small impact on parents’ working patterns. The research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, found that increasing the offer of free childcare from 15 to between 30 and 35 hours a week during term time had no noticeable impact on fathers’ working patterns or those of mothers with other children under the age of four.

“The government expects to spend close to £1bn extending the number of free hours of childcare available to working parents of three- and four-year-olds in England from 15 to 30 a week during term time,” said Sarah Cattan, senior research economist at the IFS.

“Our research suggests that this is only likely to lead a modest number of mothers – and no more fathers – to move into paid work.”

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...me-with-mother

Gotta love science.

I figured as much but it's always great to have cold, hard evidence backing it up.

It's scary that we live in society where so many just put their kids in a daycare for most of the day and in some cases the kid comes home and is largely tended to by a nanny. If you are having kids, make sure you are ready. Sacrifices need to be made.

[Deleted]

So you are saying you expect women to be nothing more than chattel, giving up their careers and staying at home to accomodate the husband and children? What is this, 1815?

[Medusa Cascade]

But child labour doesn't require cognitive skills so /shrug

[Kelathos]

Home environment and parental attention is beyond critical, it is existential.

[Tennis]

So you are saying you expect women to be nothing more than chattel, giving up their careers and staying at home to accomodate the husband and children? What is this, 1815?

Uh lots of women take paid maternity leave and work part time during the formative years of their children bud. Not sure what you're on about.

[Independent voter]

Uh lots of women take paid maternity leave and work part time during the formative years of their children bud. Not sure what you're on about.

You're a girl! Admit it!

[Kalis]

Uh lots of women take paid maternity leave and work part time during the formative years of their children bud. Not sure what you're on about.

Not every family can afford to have children if the women aren't going to be working full time for seven years. This is especially true of poorer families, such as low skilled immigrants, so they would be disproportionately negatively affected.

[Deleted]

Tennisace logic = Kids should be living in poverty rather than the mother work

[the game]

mothers should be barefoot in the kitchen after having kids. check.

[Kathandira]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...me-with-mother

Gotta love science.

I figured as much but it's always great to have cold, hard evidence backing it up.

It's scary that we live in society where so many just put their kids in a daycare for most of the day and in some cases the kid comes home and is largely tended to by a nanny. If you are having kids, make sure you are ready. Sacrifices need to be made.

I like to think that people have figured this out on their own already, and is part of the reason child birth is declining in major countries.

If you consider this, and add in the financial aspect, you have a clear picture of why. I'll use NJ as an example as it is where I live and have a good idea of how things are around here.

Average NJ salary is around $50k a year for a single adult. Pair that up with a spouse, you are at around 100k a year. This really isn't much when considering the cost of living. It is quite literally the middle class (joint income of around 70k a year is lower middle class). If you have bought a house, two newer cars, and have student loans, and whatever else you might be comfortable as is. Then you add a child. That increases your monthly costs by quite a bit. But then you have to also have 1 spouse stop working, or move to part time (this is after the paternity leave, which is only a few months.

So you just went from middle class, to working poor. When considering the financial aspect of it all, having a child is a terrible financial decision for the average adult in NJ.

[Deleted]

Interesting, is it the same/similar if the father spends time and helps study, etc?

[Tennis]

Not every family can afford to have children if the women aren't going to be working full time for seven years. This is especially true of poorer families, such as low skilled immigrants, so they would be disproportionately negatively affected.

Not every family. Nobody is arguing that this is feasible for everyone. For most it is though. Glad to see you looking out for the immigrants.

[Annoying]

Interesting, is it the same/similar if the father spends time and helps study, etc?

They address that:

The authors acknowledged that their study fails to examine the role played by fathers. This is because fathers’ non-response rates in the Millennium Cohort Study were “extremely high”, resulting in a paucity of data.

[the game]

Not every family. Nobody is arguing that this is feasible for everyone. For most it is though. Glad to see you looking out for the immigrants.

Where is your data that it is feasible for most?

[Kalis]

Not every family. Nobody is arguing that this is feasible for everyone. For most it is though.

Evidence that it will be feasible for most please.

Glad to see you looking out for the immigrants.

More curiosity as to why you are arguing in favour of a stance that negatively affects them. Do you really despise immigrants so much that you either don't want them to have kids or to suffer financially if they do?

[Deleted]

They address that:

Shame, would have loved to see if it was going to lead to similar results.

GF and I were discussing who would be the "stay at home" parent once we have kids.

Edit: PS: Thanks for pointing out what I missed.

[Miyagie]

So you are saying you expect women to be nothing more than chattel, giving up their careers and staying at home to accomodate the husband and children? What is this, 1815?

Maybe increase the maternity leave ?

[Zandalarian Paladin]

Interesting, but Tenni, can you change the color of the orange quote? It's hardly readable and hurt the eye (I had to select the text to be able to read it)

[Azadina]

You're a girl! Admit it!

No, you keep him! Matriarchy won't take him

[HumbleDuck]

From a pure anecdotal stance, my mom was spending quite alot of time with me during those ages, so I think I was wired to be a serial killer, thanks to her Im just socially awkward now.