The impact of household resources on child behavioral problems

Abstract This study examined how behavioral problems of school-aged children correlated with their family’s household resources namely parental labour supply, quality of parenting, and their family structure especially focusing on the role of the fatherhood. The estimation results show that a mother continuing to work does not have significant effects on a child’s behavioral problems from when the child is a newborn baby until the child reaches school age, while a father’s unemployment or unstable job situation has been found to have negative impacts on child development. Similarly, a father ‘s involvement in PTA activities and in a child’s upbringing plays a vital part in a child’s development. This study then provides the survey evidence of fatherhood’s great influence and effects on child development. These effects are far more significant than what is currently recognized.