How do Parental Resources affect Child-wellbeing? Evidence from birth cohort studies

Abstract

This thesis examines the complex relationship between parental resources and child well-being, using high-quality longitudinal data from large-scale birth cohort studies in Ireland, Australia, and the United Kingdom. It explores how different dimensions of parental resources' poverty, maternal employment, occupational class, and migration background 'shape children's cognitive, behavioural, and educational outcomes from infancy to adolescence across four empirical papers. The research is grounded in two theoretical frameworks, the Family Investment Model (FIM) and the Family Stress Model (FSM), which explain how financial and psychological household conditions mediate the effects of parental resources on children's developmental trajectories. The first paper (Chapter 2), based on the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study, demonstrates that children exposed to multidimensional poverty in early childhood face significant disadvantages in cognitive and behavioural development, with parental stress and reduced investments acting as key mediators. The second paper (Chapter 3), using data from The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), shows that insecure maternal employment is associated with greater behavioural difficulties in children, primarily driven by the psychological strain on mothers rather than direct financial stress. The third paper (Chapter 4), drawing on data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), highlights socioeconomic disparities in children's educational outcomes, with parental occupational class emerging as a critical predictor of academic achievement, and early cognitive ability serving as a partial mediator. Finally, the fourth paper (Chapter 5) finds that immigrant parents in Ireland exhibit a "paradox of optimism," maintaining higher educational aspirations for their children despite weaker alignment with their children's prior academic performance. This thesis contributes to the understanding of intergenerational social inequalities and highlights the multifaceted role of household resources in shaping child well-being. It underscores the importance for targeted policies to address the long-term impacts of socio-economic inequalities and provides valuable insights into how public policies can better support children from disadvantaged backgrounds, promoting equity in developmental outcomes.