Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

In-Home Training and the Production of Children's Human Capital

  • Published:
Review of Economics of the Household Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper adapts the idea of on-the-job training (OJT) to investments that families make in children before formal schooling begins. Like OJT, in-home training occurs in informal settings, requires costly time inputs and is complementary with formal schooling. In addition to choosing among home production, leisure, and market work, parents also choose which particular home activities to pursue. That working mothers dramatically reduce the time they devote to leisure, sleep, and other home activities in order to preserve their time in human capital-building activities with children, illustrates and validates the home production framework.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adelman, Howard S. and Linda Taylor. (1994). On Understanding Intervention in Psychology and Education. Westport, CT: Prager.

    Google Scholar 

  • 603.html.

  • Baydar, Nazli and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. (1991). “Effects of Maternal Employment and Child Care Arrangement in Infancy on Preschoolers' Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes: Evidence from the Children of the NLSY.” Developmental Psychology 27, 918-931.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, Gary. (1965). “The Theory of the Allocation of Time.” Economic Journal LXXV, 493-517.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berrueta-Clement, John R. et al. (1984). Changed Lives: The Effect of the Perry Preschool Program on Youths through Age 19. Monographs of the High/Scope Education Research Foundation. 8. Ypisilanti, Michigan: High/Scope Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi, Suzanne M. (2000). “Maternal Employment and Time with Children: Dramatic Change or Surprising Continuity?” Demography 37(4), 401-414.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi, Suzanne M. and John Robinson. (1997). “What Did You Do Today? Children's Use of Time, Family Composition and the Acquisition of Social Capital.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 59(2), 332-344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blau, Francine D. and Adam J. Grossberg. (1992). “Maternal Labor Supply and Children's Cognitive Development.” Review of Economics and Statistics 74(3), 474-481.

    Google Scholar 

  • Britto, Pia Rebelli, Allison S. Fuligni, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. (2001). “Reading, Rhymes and Routines: American Parents and Their Young Children.” In Neal Halfon, Kathryn Taaffe McLearn, and Mark A. Schuster (eds.), Child Rearing in America: Challenges Facing Parents With Young Children. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne et al. (1994). “Early Intervention in Low-Birth-Weight Premature Infants. Results Through Five Years from the Infant Health and Development Program.” Journal of the American Medical Association 272(16), 1257-1262.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne, Pamela K. Klebanov, and Greg Duncan. (1996). “Ethnic Differences in Children's Intelligence Test Scores: Role of Economic Deprivation, Home Environment, and Maternal Characteristics.” Child Development 67, 396-408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carneiro, Pedro, James J. Heckman, and Dayanard Manoli. (2002). “Human Capital Policy.” Presented at the Alvin Hansen Seminar, Harvard University, April 25.

  • Case, Anne, Darren Lubotsky, and Christina Paxson. (2002). “Economic Status and Health in Childhood: The Origins of the Gradient.” American Economic Review 92(5), 1308-1334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chase-Lansdale, Lindsay and Brenda Lohman. (2002). “Becoming Employed and Leaving Welfare: What Happens to Children?” Presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, November.

  • Clarke-Stewart, Allison. (1991). “A Home Is Not a Saxhool: The Effects of Child Care on Children's Development.” Journal of Social Issues 47(2), 105-123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Currie, Janet and Rosemary Hyson. (1999). “Is the Impact of Health Shocks Cushioned by Socioeconomic Status? The Case of Low Birthweight.” American Economic Review 89(2), 245-250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desai, Sonalde, Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, and Robert Michael. (1989). “Mother or Market? Effects of Maternal Employment on Cognitive Development of Four Year Old Children.” Demography 26, 545-561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, Martha Farell and Karen Kurz-Riemer. (1999). Infants, Toddlers and Families: A Framework for Support and Intervention. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, Martha F., Alan L. Stroufe, and Byron Egeland. (1985). “The Relationship between Quality of Attachment and Behavior Problems in Preschool in a High-Risk Sample.” In Inge Bretherton and Everett Waters (eds.), Growing Points of Attachment Theory and Research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 50 (1–2, Serial No. 209), 147-166.

  • Frankenberg, Elizabeth, Duncan Thomas, and Kathleen Beegle. (1999). “The Real Costs of Indonesia's Economic Crisis: Preliminary Findings from the Indonesia Family Life Surveys.” Labor and Population Program Working Paper Series 99-04. Santa Monica, California: RAND.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halfon, Neal, Moira Inkelas, and Miles Hochstein. (2000). “The Health Development Organization: An Organizational Approach to Achieving Child Health Development.” Milbank Quarterly 78(3), 447-497.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, Elizabeth. (1999). “Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Early Parental Employment on Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth.” Developmental Psychology 35(2), 445-459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckman, James J. and Lance Lochner. (2000). “Rethinking Education and Training Policy: Understanding the Sources of Skill Formation in a Modern Economy.” In Sheldon Danziger and Jane Waldfogel (eds.), Securing the Future. The Ford Foundation Series on Asset Building. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, Jennifer, Jane Waldfogel, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. (2002). “Assessing the Differential Effects of High Quality Child Care: A New Approach for Exploiting Post-Treatment Variables.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 20(4), 601-627.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofferth, Sandra L. and John F. Sandberg. (2001). “How American Children Spend Their Time.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 63, 295-308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huttenlocher, Janellen et al. (1991). “Early Vocabulary Growth: Relation to Language Input and Gender.” Developmental Psychology 27(2), 236-248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johansen, Anne S., Arleen A. Leibowitz, and Linda J. Waite. (1996). “The Importance of Child Care Characteristics to Choice of Care.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 58(3), 759-772.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karoly, Lynn A. et al. (1998). Investing in Our Children: What We Know and Don't Know about the Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leibowitz, Arleen A. (1975). “Education and the Allocation of Women's Time.” In F. Thomas Juster (ed.), Education, Income, and Human Behavior. A Conference of the National Bureau of Economic Research. New York: McGraw-Hill, 171-197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leibowitz, Arleen A. (1995). “Child Care: Private Cost or Public Responsibility?” In Victor R. Fuchs (ed.), Individual and Social Responsibility: Child Care Education, Medical Care, and Long-Term Care in America. National Bureau of Economic Research, 33-54.

  • Leibowitz, Arleen A. and Jacob Alex Klerman. (1995). “Explaining Changes in Married Mothers' Employment Over Time.” Demography 32(3), 365-378.

    Google Scholar 

  • Light, Audrey. (2001). “In-School Work Experience and the Returns to Schooling.” Journal of Labor Economics 19(1), 65-93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, Lisa M. (2000). “Trends in and Consequences of Investments in Children.” In Sheldon Danziger and Jane Waldfogel (eds.), Securing the Future. The Ford Foundation Series on Asset Building. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCormick, Marie C. et al. (1992). “The Health and Developmental Status of Very Low-Birth-Weight Children at School Age.” Journal of the American Medical Association 267(16), 2204-2208.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGauhey, Peggy J. et al. (1991). “Social Environment and Vulnerability of Low Birth Weight Children: a Social Epidemiological Perspective.” Pediatrics 88(5), 943-953.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mincer, Jacob. (1962). “Labor Force Participation of Married Women: A Study in Labor Supply.” In Aspects of Labor Economics. Universities-National Bureau Committee for Economic Research (National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Series, No. 14). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mincer, Jacob. (1974). Schooling, Experience and Earnings. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mincer, Jacob. (1997). “The Production of Human Capital and the Life Cycle of Earnings: Variations on a Theme.” Journal of Labor Economics 15(1(2)), S26-S47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, Meredith et al. (1998). “Family Background, Parenting Practices, and the Black-White Test Score Gap.” In Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips (eds.), The Black-White Test Score Gap. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramey, Sharon L. and Craig Ramey. (2000). “Early Childhood Experiences and Developmental Competence.” In Sheldon Danziger and Jane Waldfogel (eds.), Securing the Future. The Ford Foundation Series on Asset Building. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramey, Sharon L. and B.J. Smith. (1977). “Assessing the Intellectual Consequences of Early Intervention with High-Risk Infants.” American Journal of Mental Deficiency 8, 318-324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruhm, Christopher J. (1997). “Is High School Employment Consumption or Investment?” Journal of Labor Economics 15(4), 735-776.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandberg, John F. and Sandra L. Hofferth. (1999). “Changes in Parental Time with Children, U.S., 1981–1997.” Presented at the annual meeting of the International Association of Time Use Research, University of Essex, Colchester, October 6–8.

  • Shonkoff, Jack P. and Deborah Phillips. (2000). From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development. Board on Children, Youth and Families, NRC and IOM. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shore, Rima. (1997). Rethinking the Brain: New Insights from Early Development. New York: Families and Work Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Bureau of the Census. (2001). Statistical Abstract of the United States 2001, http: //www.census.gov.

  • Waldfogel, Jane, Wen-Jui Han, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. (2002). “The Effects of Early Maternal Employment on Child Cognitive Development.” Demography 39(2), 369-392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, Barry and Robert S. Kahn. (2000). “Pathways to Early Child Health and Development.” In Sheldon Danziger and Jane Waldfogel (eds.), Securing the Future. The Ford Foundation Series on Asset Building. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Policy Studies, UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research, 6345 Public Policy Building, Box 951656, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1656, USA; Tel.

    Arleen A. Leibowitz

Authors
  1. Arleen A. Leibowitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Leibowitz, A.A. In-Home Training and the Production of Children's Human Capital. Review of Economics of the Household 1, 305–317 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:REHO.0000004791.30664.ef

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:REHO.0000004791.30664.ef

Search

Navigation