Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/150788 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research No. 242
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper investigates the association between maternal life satisfaction and the developmental functioning of two- to three-year-old children as well as the socio-emotional behaviorof five- to six-year-old children. We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), which allows us to control for a rich set of child and parental characteristics and to use the mother's life satisfaction before the birth of her child as an instrument to eliminate potential reverse causality. The results indicate that the more satisfied the mother, the better her child's verbal skills and the lower his or her socio-emotional problems. The relation is more pronounced for boys than for girls. The results are robust even when mothers' personality or mothers' cognitive skills are controlled for.
Subjects: 
Life satisfaction
subjective well-being
mothers
children
child development
skill formation
instrumental variable
JEL: 
J13
I22
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
719.09 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.