Effect Of Early Child Care And Education Attendance Hours On Parent-Child Interaction In Central Asia: Evaluation Of Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys

Parent-child interaction is important for early childhood development and best practice in early child care and education (ECCE) promotes effective parent-child interaction. However, research about ECCE impact on parent-child interaction is inconclusive. This study analyzed data from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) to examine the effect of ECCE attendance on parent-child interactions in Central Asia, using a 2SLS regression analysis to explicitly model selection bias and isolate the causal effect of ECCE on the quality of parent-child interactions. The study found that increased hours of ECCE led to increased parent-child interaction in every country under investigation. This demonstrates that even underfunded ECCE programs in Central Asia can have significant positive effect, and has broader implications for all ECCE programs.