Leiva-Granados, Rolando; (2023) Early and Middle Childhood Circumstances and Child Development: Exploring the Role of Time Poverty and Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes in Peru. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The production of human capital is the subject of a growing body of literature that aims to understand how human capital accumulates from early childhood. Previous studies have identified facilitators and obstacles to human capital accumulation (Almond et al., 2018). However, many aspects of this process remain under explored. These include the identification of causal relationships between different inputs and child development; and the mechanisms through which inputs and public interventions affect child development. The primary objective of this thesis is to provide insights into how the circumstances and experiences of children in Peru, shape their human capital development. I first study the effect of child time poverty, defined as insufficient discretionary time due to commitments such as work and household chores (Kalenkoski et al., 2011), on child development. Children experiencing time poverty may be unable to allocate adequate time to cognition-enhancing activities, impacting their cognitive development. Existing research has concentrated on adult time poverty, and little is known about the possible effect of child time poverty on children’s human capital. I then study the impact of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme on nutritional and cognitive outcomes over the short- and long-term. I also explore whether the programme’s impact on nutrition mediates its effects on cognitive outcomes. My results suggest a positive impact of time poverty on girls' verbal skills, a negative effect on girl’s mathematical skills and a positive effect on boy’s verbal skills. Moreover, the CCT programme had some negative effects on test scores and mixed effects on nutrition, both on the short- and long-terms. Additionally, in the short-term, some of the programme's negative impact on cognition were mediated by its negative effect on BMI. The impact of the CCT programme was most pronounced in girls and in children who were exposed at earlier ages.

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