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Weather and children's time allocation

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  • Ha Trong Nguyen
  • Huong Thu Le
  • Luke B Connelly

Abstract

This paper presents the first causal estimates of the effect of weather on children's time allocation. It exploits exogenous variations in local weather observed during the random diary dates of two nationally representative cohorts of Australian children whose time‐use diaries were surveyed biennially over 10 years. Unfavorable weather conditions, as represented by cold or hot temperature or rain, cause children to switch activities from outdoors to indoors, mainly by reducing the time allocated to active pursuits and travel and increasing the time allocated to media. Furthermore, the effects of bad weather are more pronounced on weekends and for children with asthma. Our results also provide some evidence of adaptation, as temperature tends to have greater impact not only in winter months but also in colder regions. Our findings are robust to a wide range of sensitivity checks, including controlling for individual fixed effects and using alternative model specifications. Overall, the results suggest that extreme weather conditions may diminish children's health, development and long‐term achievements through their effects on children's time allocation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ha Trong Nguyen & Huong Thu Le & Luke B Connelly, 2021. "Weather and children's time allocation," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1559-1579, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:30:y:2021:i:7:p:1559-1579
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.4264
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    Cited by:

    1. Ha Trong Nguyen & Luke B. Connelly & Huong Thu Le & Francis Mitrou & Catherine L. Taylor & Stephen R. Zubrick, 2020. "Ethnicity differentials in academic achievements: the role of time investments," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 1381-1418, October.
    2. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Christian, Hayley & Le, Huong Thu & Connelly, Luke & Zubrick, Stephen R. & Mitrou, Francis, 2021. "The impact of weather on time allocation to physical activity and sleep of child-parent dyads," GLO Discussion Paper Series 886, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Cook, Nikolai & Heyes, Anthony, 2020. "Brain freeze: outdoor cold and indoor cognitive performance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Zubrick, Stephen R. & Mitrou, Francis, 2024. "The effects of sleep duration on child health and development," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 35-51.
    5. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Brinkman, Sally & Le, Huong Thu & Zubrick, Stephen R. & Mitrou, Francis, 2022. "Gender differences in time allocation contribute to differences in developmental outcomes in children and adolescents," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Connelly, Luke & Le, Huong Thu & Mitrou, Francis & Taylor, Catherine L. & Zubrick, Stephen R., 2019. "Sources of ethnicity differences in non-cognitive development in children and adolescents," EconStor Preprints 205801, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    7. Shuhei Kaneko & Haruko Noguchi, 2020. "Impacts of Natural Disaster on Changes in Parental and Children's Time Allocation: Evidence from the Great East Japan Earthquake," Working Papers 2006, Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics.
    8. Eugene Budu & Abdul-Aziz Seidu & Edward Kwabena Ameyaw & Ebenezer Agbaglo & Collins Adu & Felicia Commey & Kwamena Sekyi Dickson & Kenneth Setorwu Adde & Bright Opoku Ahinkorah, 2021. "Factors associated with healthcare seeking for childhood illnesses among mothers of children under five in Chad," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(8), pages 1-13, August.
    9. Nicole Rheinheimer & Stefania V. Vacaru & Julie C. van Immerseel & Simone Kühn & Carolina de Weerth, 2024. "Infant Care: Predictors of Outdoor Walking, Infant Carrying and Infant Outdoor Sleeping," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-24, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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