Helping the Kids
Investigating perceptions of fetal resemblance
Carlota Batres et al.
Evolution and Human Behavior, March 2025
Abstract:
Previous research has found that mothers are more likely to ascribe paternal resemblance to newborns. Moreover, studies have found that fathers who perceive that their children resemble them invest more in those children. In this study, we aimed to examine if maternal claims of paternal resemblance exist even with very limited visual information by asking parents whom they believed the fetus looked like during an ultrasound. We found that mothers, but not fathers, were more likely to say that the fetus resembled the father. Additionally, we found that women who were not married were even more likely to say that the fetus resembled the father. By claiming phenotypic similarity with the father, mothers are reducing paternity uncertainty and, consequently, securing investment for their offspring from when they are in utero.
Gender Differences, or Lack Thereof, in the Early Home Science Environment
Suzanne Varnell et al.
Infant and Child Development, May/June 2025
Abstract:
As women are underrepresented in STEM and the home learning environment has been associated with children's science knowledge, this study focuses on the home science environment as an area where gender differences may occur. To identify potential antecedents of gender differences, this study examined whether there were mean differences in the frequency of parent engagement in science content, processes and resources by child gender and parent relation. 906 parents of 1- to 6-year-old children (67% female, 86% White, 50% female children) completed a cross-sectional online survey about the home science environment. Results indicate no significant differences in the frequency of science engagement between parents of girls and parents of boys and between mothers and fathers (η2 < 0.01). We did not find any significant gender differences in parents' reports of their frequency of engagement in early home science activities across content, processes and resources.
Justice and Parental Blameworthiness: Gender and Racial Disparities in the Criminalization of Hot Car Deaths
Elizabeth Borland et al.
Law & Policy, July 2025
Abstract:
Nearly 40 children per year die in hot cars in the US. In the aftermath of a “hot car death,” police make decisions about arrests, and prosecutors determine what type of punishment, if any, a parent should face. These cases offer a unique opportunity to compare parents responsible for the accidental death of their children, highlighting the interplay of gender and race in sociolegal responses. By focusing on similar circumstances with differing parental identities, this research illuminates how intersecting social factors influence perceptions of blame and responsibility. Drawing on focal concerns theory and notions of blameworthiness, our project examines the role that parental gender and race play in the arrests, charges, and convictions in hot car death cases. We analyze 267 hot car deaths between 2000 and 2019. We find that mothers and non-White parents are more likely to be arrested and face harsher prosecution: they are criminally charged more often than fathers and White parents. Non-White mothers are treated most harshly. These findings illuminate inequities in the criminal justice system and underscore the need for communities to raise awareness and for new policies rather than criminalizing hot car deaths.
A survey experiment on post-Dobbs abortion bans
Laurel Elder, Steven Greene & Mary-Kate Lizotte
Research & Politics, July 2025
Abstract:
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the American abortion policy landscape has been significantly altered. Through a novel survey experiment, we examine public opinion on 6-week versus 12-week abortion bans in this new context, testing whether 12-week bans are perceived as a more moderate position and garner greater support. Surprisingly, we find that Americans do not meaningfully distinguish between 6-week and 12-week bans. This suggests that attempts by some Republican officials to navigate the post-Dobbs landscape by proposing “moderate” abortion restrictions may be ineffective. However, we find that framing does matter: pro-life framing of bans increases support for candidates who endorse them, while pro-choice framing increases support for candidates who oppose them. Overall, our findings indicate that in the post-Dobbs era, the abortion debate has largely been flattened to a binary of “ban” versus “no ban,” rather than distinctions between ban timelines. As the post-Dobbs legal and political environment continues to evolve, our research provides valuable insights into how the public is responding to this new landscape of abortion politics in America.
Reexamining a Multisite Early Childhood Education Program: Gradual Scale-Up, Birth Spacing, and Parental Investment
William Dougan, Jorge Luis Garcia & Illia Polovnikov
Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics, forthcoming
Abstract:
We reexamine the Infant Health and Development Program, a multisite, randomized, high-quality early childhood education program that unintentionally over-sampled twins by targeting premature low-birthweight children. We find that birth spacing determines program effectiveness. For singletons, outcome gains up to age eighteen replicate across sites, and are comparable to gains observed for iconic programs like the Perry Preschool Project. For twins, gains become negative by age eighteen. Program impacts on parental investment (parenting) mediate outcome differences; the program increases parenting for singletons and decreases it for twins. A household production model indicates that the possibility of jointly supplying inputs to twins explains the decrease in parenting.
A Matter of Time? Measuring Effects of Public Schooling Expansions on Families
Chloe Gibbs, Jocelyn Wikle & Riley Wilson
NBER Working Paper, June 2025
Abstract:
We leverage pronounced changes in the availability of public schooling for young children -- through duration expansions to the kindergarten day -- to better understand how an implicit childcare subsidy affects mothers and families. Exploiting full-day kindergarten variation across place and time from 1992 through 2022 and novel data on state-level policy changes, combined with a comparison of children of typical kindergarten age to older children, we measure effects on parental labor supply and family childcare expenses. Results suggest that families are responsive to these shifts. Full-day kindergarten expansions were responsible for as much as 24 percent of the growth in employment of mothers with kindergarten-aged children in this time frame.