PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mayer, Susan E.
AU  - Kalil, Ariel
AU  - Oreopoulos, Philip
AU  - Gallegos, Sebastian
TI  - Using Behavioral Insights to Increase Parental Engagement: The Parents and Children Together Intervention
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.54.4.0617.8835R
DP  - 2018 Apr 05
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 0617-8835R
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2018/04/02/jhr.54.4.0617.8835R.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2018/04/02/jhr.54.4.0617.8835R.full
AB  - Parental engagement plays a key role in children’s future success. We implemented a behaviorally informed field experiment designed to increase the time parents spend using a digital library on an electronic tablet to read to their children. Behavioral tools—reminders, goal-setting, and social rewards—more than doubled the amount of time parents spent reading using the electronic application (one standard deviation effect size) after the six-week intervention. The largest gains were for the most present-oriented parents. Our findings suggest substantial promise for the application of behavioral tools to parenting activities that promote investment in children’s human capital.