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Parenting, Scarcity, and Violence
Jorge Cuartas Ricaurte
*
; Arturo Harker Roa
*
; Andrés Moya
**
*
Escuela de Gobierno, Universidad de los Andes,
**Facultad de Economía, Universidad de los Andes
Jorge Cuartas Ricaurte
Universidad de los Andes
Email: ja.cuartas10@uniandes.edu.co
Website: decisionesuniandes.weebly.com
Phone: (+57) 301 336 8590
Contact
1. Heckman, J. (2006). Skill formation and the economics of investing in disadvantage children. Science, 312, 1900-1902.
2. Heckman, J., Stixrud, J., & Urzua, S. (2006). The effects of cognitive and noncognitive abilities on labor market outcomes and social behavior.
Journal of Labor Economics, 24(3), 411-482.
3. Lieberman, A., & Van Horn, P. (2011). Psychotherapy with infants and young children: repairing the effects of stress and trauma on early attachment. New York: The Guilford Press.
4. Reeves, R., & Howard, K. (2013). The parenting gap. Center of Children and Families of Brookings .
5. Lewis, O. (1969). Culture of poverty. In D. Motnihad (Ed.), On understanding poverty: prspectives from the social sciences (pp. 187-220). New York: Basic Books.
6. Shah, A. K., Mullainathan, S., & Shafir, E. (2012). Some consequences of having too little. Science, 338, 682-685; Haushofer, J., & Fehr, E. (2014). On the psychology of poverty. Science, 344, 862-867.
7. DANE (2015); Registro Único de Víctimas (2015).
8. More information at: semillasdeapego@uniandes.edu.co
References
Parenting is a main predictor of cognitive and social-emotional development in early childhood. Nonetheless, there is a parenting gap between low and high income households. Based on recent literature from psychology and behavioral economics, we discuss a theoretical framework to understand these differences. Particularly, we identify that perceiving scarcity or being exposed to adversities may reduce parents’ cognitive resources, thus leaving less capacity to exert high quality parenting practices. Using cross-sectional data from a household survey, and administrative information about crime and violence in Colombia, we identify that feeling scarcity and being exposed to violence correlate with a probability of child neglect 6 to 8 percentage points higher. In the same fashion, receiving information about parenting correlates with a probability of parental negligence 5 percentage points lower.
Abstract
Table 1 summarizes our main results:
•
There is a correlation between income and
child neglect (Column 1), however, it is driven
by omitted variables.
•
Receiving information about parenting
correlates with a lower probability of parental
negligence.
•
Scarcity (
i.e.,
the feeling of having less than
what is needed) correlates with a probability
of parental negligence 6 percentage points
higher (Column 2, Figure 1). Including such
variable detracts significance to income
coefficient.
•
Being exposed to violence (homicides in the
municipality) correlates with a probability of
parental negligence 8 percentage points
higher (Column 3, Figure 2).
Motivation
How to measure parenting, scarcity, and violence:
• Parenting: ENCV 2013 - Frequency of activities between parents and children (e.g., read, play, sing). Parental negligence: not exerting any activity with children.
• Scarcity: ENCV 2013 – is household income (i) enough, (ii) less than enough, or (iii) not enough to cover the household expenses.
• Violence: Min. Defensa - homicides rate per 100.000 inhabitants in the municipality.
Econometric strategy
• We estimate probit models, controlling for household income, parents' education, information about parenting practices, and other individual, household, and municipal characteristics.
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Empirical strategy
•
Our results suggest that feeling scarcity and
being exposed to violence increases the
chances of parental negligence in Colombia.
•
These findings highlight the importance of
understanding and taking into account, for
public policy, the underlying principles
behind self-defeating behaviors that may
produce intergenerational poverty traps.
•
Nevertheless, our results are not a causal
effect, and it is possible to argue that they
are hiding other things (for instance, omitted
variables). However, we run robustness
checks that allowed us to believe we are
finding an effect of scarcity and violence on
parental negligence.
Discussion
•
Usually, poor parenting practices are found
in the poorest households. However, it is not
because of a
culture of poverty
or systematic
differences in preferences, but because of
the psychological consequences of being
exposed to adversities and stress.
•
This topic is particularly relevant to
Colombia’s
context, where 60% of early
childhood live in poverty, 23% in extreme
poverty, and 10% are victims of civil conflict
7.
•
Public policy needs to take into account the
way psychological distress may affect
poverty dynamics. Particularly, how scarcity
and being exposed to violence impact not
just
children’s
development but also their
main source of protection: their parents.
•
There are some efforts on that direction. For
instance, in Universidad de los Andes we are
working on a project called
Semillas de
Apego
, aimed at alleviating displaced
mothers’
stress and fostering parental skills
8.
Conclusions
Early childhood is a critical stage of development, where cognitive and socioemotional skills develop1.
Kids born in disadvantage environments, who experienced adversities (e.g., being exposed to poverty or violence), are at much greater risk of being unskilled, having lower income, worst educational and professional performance, and a series of social and emotional problems through their life2. Nonetheless, there is a natural antidote
against adverse childhood experiences: parenting3.
Although this is encouraging, not all parents exert the same rearing quality. Particularly, recent evidence suggests low-income parents are not giving their children as much attention, support and encouragement as they need4. Traditionally, it
has been assumed that such behaviors are explained by a culture of poverty or by systematic differences between the poor and non-poor5.
However Psychology and behavioral economics offer a new explanation: mental resources (e.g.,
self-control, motivation, patience) are scarce, and the same adversities that impact children may reduce parents resources, leaving less capacity to exert high quality parenting practices6.
Results
Probit (1) (2) (3)
Income per capita (log) -0.098*** (0.018)
0.046 (0.048)
0.051 (0.035)
Information
-0.501*** (0.180)
-0.479*** (0.175)
Some scarcity
0.249 0.214
0.201 (0.250)
Scarcity
0.437** (0.226)
0.448* (0.271)
Homicides (log)
0.093* (0.054)
Controls No Yes Yes
Observations 4,081 2,214 2,003
0 0,02 0,04 0,06 0,08 0,1 0,12 0,14 0,16 0,18
Low exposition Middle exposition High exposition
Pr(
Negl
ig
enc
e
)
0.05
0 0,02 0,04 0,06 0,08 0,1 0,12 0,14
No scarcity Some scarcity Scarcity
Pr(
Ne
glig
ence
)
[image:1.2383.1576.2257.596.1204.2]0.05
Table 1. Parental negligence likelihood
Feeling scarcity changes attention allocation and reduces cognitive capacity. Being exposed to
violence produces stress, which has a causal effect over self-control, patience, motivation,
aspirations, and expectations .
Usually, poor parenting practices are found in poor households. It is not because of systematic differences between the poor and non-poor. It is
due to the psychological consequences of living in disadvantage environments and being exposed
to adversities.
Figure 1. Parental negligence and scarcity
Figure 2. Parental negligence and violence
0.11
0.07
0.13
0.08
[image:1.2383.167.746.2334.2865.2]
