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Breastfeeding and Child Development

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  • Emla Fitzsimons
  • Marcos Vera-Hernández

Abstract

We show that children who are born at or just before the weekend are less likely to be breastfed, owing to poorer breastfeeding support services in hospitals at weekends. We use this variation to estimate the effect of breastfeeding on children's development in the first seven years of life, for a sample of births of low-educated mothers. We find large effects of breastfeeding on children's cognitive development but no effects on health or noncognitive development during the period of childhood we consider. Regarding mechanisms, we study how breastfeeding affects parental investments and the quality of the mother-child relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Emla Fitzsimons & Marcos Vera-Hernández, 2022. "Breastfeeding and Child Development," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 329-366, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:329-66
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20180385
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    Cited by:

    1. Albanesi, Stefania & Olivetti, Claudia & Petrongolo, Barbara, 2022. "Families, labor markets and policy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118038, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Khudri, Md Mohsan & Hussey, Andrew, 2024. "Breastfeeding and Child Development Outcomes across Early Childhood and Adolescence: Doubly Robust Estimation with Machine Learning," IZA Discussion Papers 17080, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Rossi, Elodie & Levasseur, Pierre & Clément, Matthieu, 2024. "“Mother's milk”: Is there a social reversal in breastfeeding practices along with economic development?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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