Economic intervention and parenting: a randomized experiment of statewide child development accounts

Nam, Yunju; Wikoff, Nora; Sherraden, Michael

Abstract

Objective:

We examine the effects of Child Development Accounts (CDAs) on parenting stress and practices.
Methods:

We use data from the SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment. SEED OK selected caregivers of infants from Oklahoma birth certificates using a probability sampling method, randomly assigned caregivers to the treatment (n = 1,132) or control group (n = 1,098), and provided college savings incentives only to the treatment group. We run regression analyses on a parenting stress scale and six continuous measures of parenting practices.

Results:

There were no significant differences in parenting outcomes between treatment and control groups, with the exception of frequency of screaming at the child. CDAs have more salient effects on American Indians than on other groups.
Conclusions:

We present weak evidence for CDAs’ positive impacts on parenting outcomes. Further research is needed to determine whether these initial results change over time.

Citation

Nam, Y., Wikoff, N., & Sherraden, M. (2016). Economic intervention and parenting: a randomized experiment of statewide child development accounts. Research on Social Work Practice, 26(4), 339-349. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731514555511

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 25, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Oct 30, 2014
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Sep 25, 2017
• Journal: Research on Social Work Practice
• Print ISSN: 1049-7315
• Electronic ISSN: 1552-7581
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 339-349
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731514555511
• Keywords: College savings, Quantitative, Parenting stress, Parenting practices, Randomized experiment, SEED for Oklahoma Kids, Social welfare policy, Children
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/792225
• Publisher URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1049731514555511
• Additional Information: © 2014 by SAGE Publications
• Contract Date: Sep 20, 2017