Session: Early Childhood Environments and Child Development
Babies and screentime: Evidence from Children of the 2020s (Tammy Campbell, Education Policy Institute)
Which babies are more likely to experience any screen time? Among those who watch, who watches most? How does using screens interplay with other home activities? Our analysis finds that most babies surveyed for Children of the 2020s experience up to an hour a day (49%) or no screentime (28%); a very small minority (2%) experience over three hours. Number of siblings is strongly related to screen use. While family income-level is related to amount watched – among those who watch any – there is no pattern by income-level in terms of whether babies access any screens vs none. For the 2% of babies viewing over three hours, there seems to be the most negative relationship with engagement in other regular activities. For babies watching up to two hours of screentime there are different relationships. An increase to two hours is associated with more pretend play, turn-taking, and singing.
Intergenerational Transmission of Parental Reading: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study (Markus Klein, University of Strathclyde)
Parental reading strongly influences children’s linguistic, cognitive, and literacy development, with long-term effects on educational trajectories and social mobility. Using data from the 1970 British Cohort Study, this study examines whether parental reading is transmitted across generations and whether transmission varies by grandparents’ socioeconomic status. Results show that individuals read to more frequently at age five are significantly more likely to read to their own children three decades later. This association is robust across socioeconomic backgrounds, with no evidence of moderation by grandparental education or income. Findings highlight parental reading as a durable component of parenting behaviour and suggest that early childhood interventions promoting shared reading can benefit children and future generations across the social spectrum.
Early bilingualism is associated with lower mental health problems across childhood: A longitudinal investigation (Paulina Salgado-Garcia, University of Birmingham)
This study investigated the association between early bilingualism and children’s mental health trajectories from early to middle childhood in the United Kingdom. Data were drawn from the Millennium Cohort Study, with parents of 15,435 children (2,146 bilinguals; 49% female) completing the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire when their children were aged 3, 5, 7, and 11 years. The sample, representative of the U.K. population, included children from White British (81%), Pakistani (5%), Black (2.6%), and Indian (2.2%) backgrounds. After adjusting for key variables (e.g., sex, socioeconomic status, child’s ethnicity), early bilingual children consistently exhibited lower levels of internalizing and externalizing problems than monolingual peers. The mental health advantage was particularly evident among children from low to mid-level family socioeconomic status.
Same-Ethnic Friendships in Adolescence in England: The Role of Same-Ethnic Share and Diversity in Schools and Neighbourhoods (Millennium Cohort Study) (Priyasha Khurana, University of Essex)
Adolescents in England are growing up in increasingly ethnically diverse environments, yet their friendship networks often remain segregated along ethnic lines. This study examines how ethnic group membership and the ethnic composition of schools and neighbourhoods shape same-ethnic friendships, focusing on same-ethnic availability and overall diversity in both contexts. Findings show that school composition emerges as the strongest predictor. Among minority adolescents, a higher proportion of same-ethnic peers in school increases the likelihood of reporting some or mostly same-ethnic friendships, while school diversity reduces the likelihood of reporting no same-ethnic friends. Among majority adolescents, greater school diversity substantially reduces the likelihood of reporting mostly or exclusively same-ethnic friendships. Neighbourhood composition shows weaker and less consistent associations once school composition is taken into account. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between same-ethnic availability and diversity and demonstrate that school environments are a key context through which opportunity structures shape adolescent friendship patterns.
