A paper published in the Journal of Development Economics reported the effects of a home-based parenting program in rural China two and a half years after completion. The program was implemented by officials from China’s Family Planning Commission between November 2014 and April 2015.
A total of 131 villages were selected using stratified random sampling from a relatively poor province in Northwest China. Sixty-five villages were randomly assigned to the treatment condition and 66 to the control condition. Families with children aged 18 to 30 months in the sample villages were invited to enroll; 212 children from treatment villages and 300 from control villages comprised the final sample (mean age 24 months).
The weekly parenting program involved home visits for six months. Trained facilitators introduced developmentally appropriate activities to caregivers (typically mothers or grandmothers) to stimulate children’s cognitive development using a structured curriculum. Survey data and cognitive test scores were collected before, immediately after, and 30 months following the intervention.
After controlling for baseline differences, the study revealed medium-term impacts two and a half years later.
- Children in the treatment group demonstrated significantly better working memory compared to controls on the WPPSI-IV, though no differences emerged for other cognitive domains. No group differences appeared for behaviors on the SDQ.
- Treatment parents invested more time in activities with their children (e.g., storytelling and singing), but not in providing materials (e.g., books, toys).
- By the time of follow-up survey, treatment parents more likely enrolled children earlier in preschool, which Chinese parents can do voluntarily between ages three and six, and favored township over village preschools despite longer distances. Treatment parents tended to valued preschool quality higher.
In summary, while the parenting program had no effects on most children’s outcomes except working memory, it influenced long-term parental investments of time in children and shifted values and choices around preschool enrollment.
Source (Open Access): Wang, L., Qian, Y., Warrinnier, N., Attanasio, O., Rozelle, S., & Sylvia, S. (2023). Parental investment, school choice, and the persistent benefits of an early childhood intervention. Journal of Development Economics, 165, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103166