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Is Video Watching Bad for Kids? The Effect of Video Watching on Children's Skills

Author

Listed:
  • Carolina Caetano
  • Gregorio S. Caetano
  • Débora Mazetto
  • Meghan Skira

Abstract

This paper documents video consumption among school-aged children in the U.S. and explores its impact on human capital development. Video watching is common across all segments of society, yet surprisingly little is known about its developmental consequences. With a bunching identification strategy, we find that an additional hour of daily video consumption has a negative impact on children’s noncognitive skills, with harmful effects on both internalizing behaviors (e.g., depression) and externalizing behaviors (e.g., social difficulties). We find a positive effect on math skills, though the effect on an aggregate measure of cognitive skills is smaller and not statistically significant. These findings are robust and largely stable across most demographics and different ways of measuring skills and video watching. We find evidence that for Hispanic children, video watching has positive effects on both cognitive and noncognitive skills—potentially reflecting its role in supporting cultural assimilation. Interestingly, the marginal effects of video watching remain relatively stable regardless of how much time children spend on the activity, with similar incremental impacts observed among those who watch very little and those who watch for many hours.

Suggested Citation

  • Carolina Caetano & Gregorio S. Caetano & Débora Mazetto & Meghan Skira, 2025. "Is Video Watching Bad for Kids? The Effect of Video Watching on Children's Skills," NBER Working Papers 34466, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34466
    Note: CH
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C24 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models; Threshold Regression Models
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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