Inequality in Early Childhood: Evaluation of Parental Investment in Children in Tunisia

This paper has a dual purpose. First, it aims to construct and evaluate parental investment in early childhood based on five indicators: mental development, discipline, nutrition, health, and leisure. Second, it aspires to establish a link between the education of mother and family well-being and the level of parental investment in early childhood with regard to the five indicators. The author tests the impact of family well-being and mother's education on investment in early childhood to find out if discrimination of gender and residence inequalities matter. Results indicate that the family's degree of wealth/socio-economic class and mother's education have a significant positive effect on all indicators of parental investment in early childhood except on discipline. The author also sees that households in rural areas invest more in the discipline of their children than urban ones. Moreover, they discriminate between gender in favor of boys.