Researchers at the Center for Research on Culture, Development, and Education (CRCDE) in New York University published a study in the July/August 2008 issue of the journal Child Development, that found that mothers who had greater social and economic resources were more supportive parents than those with fewer resources, as reported in a review of the study. This increased support influences a child’s cognitive performance.

The researchers studied 2,089 low-income mothers and their children who were participants in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Study. Researchers visited homes when the children were 14, 24, and 36 months old and measured, by observing mother-child interaction and the home environment, the quality of parenting as well as the families’ economic resources. In addition, they studied the mother’s education, the children’s birth weight, where the children’s’ fathers lived, and how often the mother read on her own.

The study found that the families’ economic resources and quality of parenting contributed to the children’s cognitive development. Mothers with greater economic resources were more supportive in parenting, which influenced the children’s cognitive performance. Cognitive performance in turn influenced parenting: mothers displayed more encouragement of cognitive stimulation, warmth, and sensitivity and were more supportive in response to developmental achievements of the child.

Julieta Lugo-Gil, who conducted the research, says that “These findings point to the importance of examining parenting resources and parenting quality as joint contributors to children's development. Programs that aim solely at supplementing family earnings may not have a strong impact on children's cognitive development; programs that offer a combination of cash assistance and services designed to improve the quality of parenting may be more effective."

Family support programs need to focus on addressing literacy and education, reducing parental stress and providing high-quality child care as well as financial circumstances.