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Abstract We study the consequences of unequal parenting on children’s long-term outcomes. Our analysis reveals that parenting style exerts a distinct influence on children’s development, separate from socio-economic factors such as education and race. We contend that parenting styles adapt to the evolving environment in which children are raised. Although correlated with socio-economic family characteristics, this factor demonstrates an independent impact. Recognizing how parents respond to economic shifts is crucial for deriving policy implications. Supporting this perspective, our findings indicate that parenting choices exhibit systematic variation across countries and local communities with varying formal and informal institutions. Therefore, a critical next step in addressing inequality in early-childhood outcomes involves examining how parents will modify their own behaviours in response to potential policy changes.
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Sharenting and children’s privacy: Parenting style, practices, and perspectives on sharing young children’s photos on social media
Parents posting photos and other information about children on social media is increasingly common and a recent source of controversy. We investigated characteristics that predict parental sharing behavior by collecting information from 493 parents of young children in the United States on self-reported demographics, social media activity, parenting styles, children’s social media engagement, and parental sharing attitudes and behaviors. Our findings indicate that most social media active parents share photos of their children online and feel comfortable doing so without their child’s permission. The strongest predictor of parental sharing frequency was general social media posting frequency, suggesting that participants do not strongly differentiate between “regular” photo-sharing activities and parental sharing. Predictors of parental sharing frequency include greater social media engagement, larger social networks with norms encouraging parental sharing, more permissive and confident parenting styles, and greater social media engagement by their children. Contrasting previous research that often highlights benefits of parental sharing, our findings point to a number of risky online behaviors associated with parental sharing not previously uncovered. Implications for children’s privacy and early social media exposure are discussed, including future directions for influencing parental sharing attitudes and behaviors.
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- PAR ID:
- 10319486
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Computer supported cooperative work
- ISSN:
- 2628-8028
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3512963
