Give Us This Day our Daily Breadth Greg J. Duncan Department of Education University of California, Irvine
Learning from the masters: Tom Juster Jim Morgan
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
“The economist who is only an economist is likely to become a nuisance if not a positive danger.” - Frederick von Hayek
Kagel et al., 1975 Rat demand curve for root beer
I say: “noncognitive skill” You feel:
To create is to recombine - Francois Jacob
Parallel play Associative play Cooperativeplay
A Mediated Model of Family Poverty Child Poverty Purchased inputs Cognitive stimulation in the home Type and quality of child care Quality of schools and neighborhood Family processes Maternal mental health Parenting Child/ Adolescent outcomes Attainment Socioemotional behavior Executive function Income pathway Maternal stress pathway
Increase in completed schooling associated with a $3,000 annual increase in income Duncan, Brooks-Gunn, Yeung and Smith, 1998
Increase in age earnings associated with a $3,000 annual increase in income Duncan, Ziol-Guest & Kalil, 2010
Increase in age earnings associated with a $3,000 annual increase in income Duncan, Ziol-Guest & Kalil, 2010
Adult earnings (+)p<.05 Regression-adjusted associations with early family income Adult obesity (-)p<.05 Adult hypertension (-)p<.05 Adult arthritis (-)p<.05 Adult work hours (+)p<.01 Arrestsns Non-marital birthns Duncan, Ziol-Guest & Kalil, 2010
A Mediated Model of Family Poverty Childhood Poverty Purchased inputs Parenting Child/ Adolescent outcomes Attainment Socioemotional behavior Executive function
A Mediated Model of Family Poverty Childhood Poverty Purchased inputs Parenting Child/ Adolescent outcomes Attainment Socioemotional behavior Executive function Early poverty Early brain development Adult outcomes Ability to sustain full time careers Health Stress and immune function Early fetal/child stress
The Child Microsystem Mesosystem Exosystem Macrosystem Bronfenbrenner, 1979 Family Peers Community Mass media Political system Culture Economy Policy
High and low family incomes,
Achievement gaps by race and income, by birth year Income gap based on various national surveys
EITC payments for family with 2+ children Earned income
Effects of EITC expansion on children’s test scores and mothers’ health Dahl and Lochner, 2009; Evans and Garthwaite, 2009 ChildrenMothers CRP ≥ 0.3 mg/Dl # bad mental health days
Unbiased estimation Unbiased causal estimation Measurement quality Statistical technique de jour
The case for breadth
Ideas having sex with other ideas… The history of the modern world is a history of ideas meeting, mixing, mating and mutating Matt Ridley, 2010 The Rational Optimist
2012 Theme meetings in Tampa Bay February 9-11, 2012 Developmental methodology Positive development October 18-20, 2012 Emerging adulthood
To create is to recombine - Francois Jacob