Is Biology Destiny? Birth Weight and Differential Parental Treatment

• DOI: 10.1007/s13524-012-0123-y
• Publication Date: 2012-08-02T20:51:42Z
• Authors: Amy Hsin
• Keywords: Destiny (ISS module); Differential treatment; Differential effects

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.