Does a child’s early schooling affect mother’s mental well-being? Evidence from Australia

Research has shown that early schooling may have an adverse impact on child development in the short run. If there is such an impact, it may spill over onto mothers, especially in relation to the mother’s mental well-being. This paper examines the spillover effects of a child’s early school enrollment on their mother’s mental well-being. To identify the effects, we use a fuzzy regression discontinuity design that exploits the school entry rule in Australia. We find that a child’s early entry into school increases the level of their mother’s nervousness in the year their child turns seven. The impact is primarily detected among mothers of girls and mothers from low-income households. Using the responses of the children, we provide suggestive evidence that girls and children from low-income households were suffering from early schooling, and that the impacts might spill over into their mothers.