Is biology destiny? Birth weight and differential parental treatment

Demography. 2012 Nov;49(4):1385-405. doi: 10.1007/s13524-012-0123-y.

Abstract

Time diaries of sibling pairs from the PSID-CDS are used to determine whether maternal time investments compensate for or reinforce birth-weight differences among children. The findings demonstrate that the direction and degree of differential treatment vary by mother's education. Less-educated mothers devote more total time and more educationally oriented time to heavier-birth-weight children, whereas better-educated mothers devote more total and more educationally oriented time to lower-birth-weight children. The compensating effects observed among highly educated mothers are substantially larger than the reinforcing effects among the least-educated mothers. The findings show that families redistribute resources in ways that both compensate for and exacerbate early-life disadvantages.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Birth Weight*
  • Educational Status
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Mother-Child Relations
  • Mothers / statistics & numerical data*
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Time Factors