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Gender differences in Italian children’s capabilities

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Abstract

Child well-being is analysed in this paper using the capability approach with a special focus on gender differences. The capabilities analysed are senses imagination and thought and play. These are crucial dimensions in the definition of child well-being and the country analysed performs particularly badly, with regards other industrialized countries. We estimate a Structural Equation Model (SEM) where the two capabilities are defined as latent variables which are intrinsically interrelated. For each of these capabilities, a set of indicators of functionings is utilised. The model is applied to Italian data for 2008. The results imply strong gender differences among Italian children. In particular, highly educated parents invest more in girls' capability of senses imagination and thought than in the boys' capability. On the other hand highly educated parents invest more on their children's play activities the effect being similar for boys and girls. Assuming parents education as a proxy for family income, this confirms the well-known result of higher income elasticities for girls' education (measured here with the capability of senses imagination and thought) with respect to boys education

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  • Addabbo Tindara & Di Tommao Maria Laura & Maccagnan Anna, 2011. "Gender differences in Italian children’s capabilities," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201108, University of Turin.
    • Handle: RePEc:uto:dipeco:201108
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    1. Gaetano Grilli & Antonella D’Agostino & Antoanneta Potsi, 2018. "Social Participation and Safety Deprivation of Children in Italy: PIIGS Countries in Perspective," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(1), pages 159-184, February.
    2. Tindara Addabbo & Gisella Facchinetti, 2013. "Fuzzy logic and the capability approach," Center for the Analysis of Public Policies (CAPP) 0106, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    3. Suwastika Naidu, 2016. "Does Human Development Influence Women’s Labour Force Participation Rate? Evidences from the Fiji Islands," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 1067-1084, July.
    4. Mónica Domínguez-Serrano & Lucía Moral Espín, 2018. "From Relevant Capabilities to Relevant Indicators: Defining an Indicator System for Children’s Well-Being in Spain," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(1), pages 1-25, February.
    5. Jaya Krishnakumar & Florian Chávez-Juárez, 2016. "Estimating Capabilities with Structural Equation Models: How Well are We Doing in a ‘Real’ World?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 717-737, November.
    6. Antoanneta Potsi & Antonella D’Agostino & Caterina Giusti & Linda Porciani, 2016. "Childhood and capability deprivation in Italy: a multidimensional and fuzzy set approach," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(6), pages 2571-2590, November.
    7. Jennifer Fane & Colin MacDougall & Jessie Jovanovic & Gerry Redmond & Lisa Gibbs, 2020. "Preschool Aged Children’s Accounts of their Own Wellbeing: are Current Wellbeing Indicators Applicable to Young Children?," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(6), pages 1893-1920, December.
    8. Paul Anand & Laurence Roope, 2016. "The development and happiness of very young children," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 47(4), pages 825-851, December.
    9. Mónica Domínguez-Serrano & Lucía del Moral-Espín, 2022. "The Capability Approach and Child Well-Being: A Systematic Literature Review," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(6), pages 2043-2063, December.
    10. Brenda Gladstone & Silvia Exenberger & Bente Weimand & Vincci Lui & Nina Haid-Stecher & Monika Geretsegger, 2021. "The Capability Approach in Research about Children and Childhood: a Scoping Review," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(1), pages 453-475, February.
    11. Anna Kurowska, 2020. "Gendered Effects of Home-Based Work on Parents’ Capability to Balance Work with Non-work: Two Countries with Different Models of Division of Labour Compared," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 405-425, September.
    12. Antonella D’Agostino & Caterina Giusti & Antoanneta Potsi, 2018. "Gender and Children’s Wellbeing: Four Mediterranean Countries in Perspective," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(5), pages 1649-1676, October.
    13. Yei-Whei Lin & Chien-Hsiu Lin & Chih-Nan Chen, 2023. "Opportunities for Happiness and Its Determinants Among Children in China: A Study of Three Waves of the China Family Panel Studies Survey," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(2), pages 551-579, April.
    14. Tindara Addabbo & Maria Laura Di Tommaso & Anna Maccagnan, 2016. "Education Capability: A Focus on Gender and Science," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 793-812, September.
    15. Yelda Yucel, 2022. "Capabilities Indicators for Human Rights Cities in Turkey: A Gender-Specific Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 495-522, January.
    16. J. F. Muñoz & E. à lvarez-Verdejo & R. M. García-Fernández, 2018. "On Estimating the Poverty Gap and the Poverty Severity Indices With Auxiliary Information," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 47(3), pages 598-625, August.

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