Two-generation human capital programs seek to promote the education of parents and children simultaneously. This study examines relations between family participation in Career"Advance," which recruits parents of Head Start children into a workforce training program, and children's Head Start attendance. The sample included 293 children…

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n ˜ 6,950), a nationally representative sample of children born in 2001, we examined school readiness (academic skills and socioemotional well-being) at kindergarten entry for children who attended Head Start compared with those who experienced other types of child care…

Most of the authors in this issue of "Future of Children" focus on a single strategy for helping both adults and children that could become a component of two-generation programs. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, on the other hand, look at actual programs with an explicit two-generation focus that have been tried in the…

We used longitudinal data from a birth cohort study, the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, to investigate the links between Head Start and school readiness in a large and diverse sample of urban children at age 5 (N = 2,803; 18 cities). We found that Head Start attendance was associated with enhanced cognitive ability and social…

In this study, we examined the developmental pathways from children's family environment to school readiness within a low-income sample (N = 1,046), with a specific focus on the role of sustained attention. Six distinct factors of the family environment representing maternal parenting behaviors, the physical home environment, and maternal mental…

Household chaos has been linked to poorer cognitive, behavioural, and self-regulatory outcomes in young children, but the mechanisms responsible remain largely unknown. Using a diverse sample of families in Chicago, the present study tests for the independent contributions made by five indicators of household chaos: noise, crowding, family…

This study examined the prevalence and determinants of spanking of children at 3?years of age and the associations between spanking and externalizing behaviour and receptive verbal ability at age 5?years. Overall, we find maternal spanking rates of 55.2% and paternal rates of 43.2% at age 3?years. Mothers facing greater stress and those who…

Background/Context: Economic, developmental, and sociological theories and research suggest that there are benefits associated with on-time postsecondary credentialing and training for low-income parents even though this often means the management of family, work, and school while children are young. This argument is based on three conclusions…

The federal Early Head Start (EHS) program began in 1995, and a randomized trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of 17 EHS programs. In all, 3,001 low-income families (35% African American, 24% Hispanic, and 37% White) with a pregnant women or an infant under the age of 12 months were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group (with…

Examined mothers' patterns of welfare receipt in the 3 years following birth of a child. Found strong negative associations between receiving welfare and parenting behavior and child outcomes at age three. Parenting by mothers who had left welfare by their child's third birthday was more likely to be authoritarian if mother had left public…

Two studies suggested that measures of parenting behavior should be differentiated according to source of information (maternal report, interviewer rating) and the context (naturally occurring situation, structured situation). Study 1 used data from an interview portion of the JOBS Child Outcomes Study, whereby mothers and interviewers documented…

This study used data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its 1997 supplement to examine how family income matters for preschool children's development. Findings indicated that the association between family income and children's achievement test scores was mediated by the family's ability to invest in providing a stimulating learning…

Examined differences in intelligence test scores of black and white five-year-olds born premature with low birth weight. Found that black children's IQ scores were 1 SD lower than those of white children. Adjustments for ethnic differences in poverty reduced the differential by half; adjustments for differences in home environment reduced it by…

Examined how maternal education, economic conditions, and instrumental support influenced maternal psychological functioning, parenting, and child development among single Black mothers. Found that maternal education positively related to earnings, which, with instrumental support, negatively related to financial strain. Financial strain related…

Portions of this paper were presented at a research briefing, sponsored by the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means. Results are presented from evaluations of several early intervention programs, all of which provided high quality, center-based early childhood education and…