Upcoming Presentation by Dr. Nancy Kong

Please join us on Wednesday, November 18th at 9:00AM for a research presentation entitled “Parental Economic Insecurity and Children’s Non-Cognitive Skills: A Panel Study of 2-to-5 Year-Olds in Canada”.

Click here to register for the event. You must register before the event to access the Zoom presentation.

About the lecture

This paper explores the relationship between economic insecurity and children’s hyperactivity and anxiety in Canada, a topic which we argue is extremely relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic though it has as yet received little research attention. Since no data are available to address this question directly, we use longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (2000-2008). Estimates obtained using both OLS and child fixed effects consistently find that the health of 2- to 5-year-old children is worse when parents report themselves to be ‘worried about having enough money to support the family.’ Results also point to important gender differences—boys are more hyperactive and girls are more anxious when parents feel less economically insecure. Finally, less positive interaction and consistent parenting, more irrational and ineffective parenting appears to be channeled through which parental economic insecurity affects their children.