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Inequality in socioemotional skills: a cross-cohort comparison

Author

Listed:
  • Orazio Attanasio

    (University College London)

  • Richard Blundell

    (University College London)

  • Gabriella Conti

    (University College London)

  • Giacomo Mason

    (University College London)

Abstract

We examine changes in inequality in socio-emotional skills very early in life in two British cohorts born 30 years apart. We construct socio-emotional scales comparable across cohorts for both boys and girls, using two validated instruments for the measurement of child behaviour. We identify two dimensions of socio-emotional skills for each cohort: ‘internalising' and ‘externalising', related to the ability of children to focus their concentration and to engage in interpersonal activities, respectively. Using recent methodological advances in factor analysis, we establish comparability in the inequality of these early skills across cohorts, but not in their average level. We document for the first time that inequality in these early skills has increased across cohorts, especially for boys and at the bottom of the distribution. We also document changes in conditional skills gaps across cohorts. We find an increase in the socio- emotional skills gap in the younger cohort for children born to mothers with higher socio-economic status (education and employment), and to mothers who smoked during pregnancy. The increase in inequality in early socio-emotional skills is particularly pronounced for boys. On the other hand, we find a decline in the skills gradient for children without a father figure in the household. Lastly, we document that socio-emotional skills measured at a much earlier age than in most of the existing literature are significant predictors of outcomes both in adolescence and adulthood, in particular health and health behaviours. Our results show the importance of formally testing comparability of measurements to study skills differences across groups, and in general point to the role of inequalities in the early years for the accumulation of health and human capital across the life course.

Suggested Citation

  • Orazio Attanasio & Richard Blundell & Gabriella Conti & Giacomo Mason, 2018. "Inequality in socioemotional skills: a cross-cohort comparison," Working Papers 2018-071, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
  • Handle: RePEc:hka:wpaper:2018-071
    Note: ECI, HI
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; socio-emotional skills; cohort study; measurement invariance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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