Parents' Basic Skills and Children's Cognitive Outcomes

A research paper which explores the issue of how parents’ basic skills in literacy and numeracy relate to the early cognitive development of their children between the ages of three and six. The authors base their paper on an analysis of the British Cohort Study (BCS) dataset, which contains information about numeracy and literacy tests undertaken by members of the study cohort at age 34, and cognitive tests their children had undertaken between age three and age six. The British Cohort Study tracks a large sample of cohort members who were born in the UK in 1970. The research found strong evidence that parents with higher basic skills have children who perform better in cognitive tests. The research also found that the impact of parental basic skills on children’s cognitive skills was larger for parents who had fewer post GCSE qualifications.