Impacts of child development accounts on parenting practices: evidence from a randomised statewide experiment

ABSTRACT

This study examines the impact of Child Development Accounts (CDAs) on parenting practices of mothers with young children in a statewide randomised experiment conducted in the United States. The experiment included 2704 primary caregivers of children born in Oklahoma during 2007: 1358 were randomly assigned to the treatment group and 1346 to the control group. Structural equation modelling suggests that the punitive-parenting score among treatment participants was .12 standard deviations smaller than that among control participants (p < . 05). Findings indicate that CDAs reduce punitive parenting, and may serve as an additional tool for positive parent–child interactions.

KEYWORDS:

• Asset building
• child development accounts
• economic intervention
• parenting practices
• punitive parenting
• positive parenting

Acknowledgments

Support for the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment comes from the Ford Foundation and Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. We especially value our partnership with the State of Oklahoma: Ken Miller, State Treasurer; Scott Meacham, former State Treasurer; Tim Allen, Deputy Treasurer for Communications and Program Administration; and James Wilbanks, former Director of Revenue and Fiscal Policy. We appreciate the contributions of staff at RTI International, especially those of Ellen Marks and Bryan Rhodes. The Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan Program Manager, TIAA-CREF, has also been a valuable partner. We are grateful to Mark Schreiner, Sandy Beverly, and Youngmi Kim for their careful review and insightful comments; to Mark Schreiner and Nora Wikoff for their assistance in managing the survey data; to Chris Leiker and John Gabbert for providing editorial assistance; and to staff on the SEED OK team over several years.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the Ford Foundation and Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Jin Huang

Jin Huang is an Associate Professor at School of Social Work, Saint Louis University and a faculty director of inclusion in asset building at Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis.

Yunju Nam

Yunju Nam is an Associate Professor at School of Social Work, University at Buffalo, State University of New York.

Michael Sherraden

Michael Sherraden is the George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor and Founding Director, Center for Social Development and Next Age Institute, Washington University in St. Louis.

Margaret Clancy

Margaret Clancy is the Policy Director and the Director of College Savings Initiative and SEED for Oklahoma Kids, Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis.