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Impacts of Parental Health Shocks on Children's Non-cognitive Skills

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  • Franz Westermaier
  • Brant Morefield
  • Andrea M. Mühlenweg

Abstract

We examine how parental health shocks affect children's non-cognitive skills. Based on a German mother-and-child data base, we draw on significant changes in self-reported parental health as an exogenous source of health variation to identify effects on outcomes for children at ages of three and six years. At the age of six, we observe that maternal health shocks in the previous three years have significant negative effects on children's behavioral outcomes. The mostserious of these maternal health shocks decrease the observed non-cognitive skills up to half a standard deviation. Paternal health does not robustly affect non-cognitive outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Franz Westermaier & Brant Morefield & Andrea M. Mühlenweg, 2013. "Impacts of Parental Health Shocks on Children's Non-cognitive Skills," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 542, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp542
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    Cited by:

    1. Nicoletti, Cheti & Tonei, Valentina, 2017. "The Response of Parental Time Investments to the Child's Skills and Health," IZA Discussion Papers 10993, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Nicoletti, Cheti & Tonei, Valentina, 2020. "Do parental time investments react to changes in child’s skills and health?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human capital; health; non-cognitive skills;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

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