We use cookies to provide you with the best possible website experience. This includes cookies that are necessary for the operation of the site, as well as cookies used for anonymous statistics, comfort settings, or displaying personalized content. You can decide which categories you want to allow. Please note that depending on your settings, some features of the website may not be available.

Cookie settings

These necessary cookies are required to enable the core functionality of the website. Opting out of these cookies is not possible.

cb-enable
This cookie stores the user's cookie consent status for the current domain. Expiry: 1 year.
laravel_session
Stores the session ID to recognize the user when the page reloads and to restore their login session. Expiry: 2 hours.
XSRF-TOKEN
Provides CSRF protection for forms. Expiry: 2 hours.
IZA Discussion Paper No. 16694
December 2023
When Randomization Is Not Feasible: The Case of Parenting Skills Programs

One of the aims of parenting programs is to enhance parental skills and behaviours for the well-being of children. This study examines the effects of the FA.C.E. ("Becoming Educating Communities") program, focusing on parents' use of time with their children. Promoted by the non-profit organization Con I Bambini, FA.C.E. ran for three years, with funding from several Italian philanthropic foundations and the Italian government. Here we evaluate the impact of the second edition of the program on parental perceptions and on children's time use during the 2020/2021 school year. Two obstacles prevented us from implementing randomization, which would have necessitated the randomization of two cohorts of families, with the first commencing the program immediately and the second starting later. The initial challenge arose from the COVID-19 pandemic, which confined people to their homes. It was therefore decided to encourage families to attend in person as often and whenever they could, with no restrictions imposed on their impromptu participation. The second issue stemmed from the randomization used to evaluate the first edition of FA.C.E., which led several families to abandon the program, either because they had wanted to start immediately or because they had not been placed with their family's friends. For the second edition of the program, we collected data from each family before and after their participation in the program and rely on two different empirical strategies to evaluate the program's impact. We also include a test to help determine which is the most reliable estimate.

Communications
Mark Fallak
mark.fallak@liser.lu
+352 585-855-526
World of Labour
Olga Nottmeyer
olga.nottmeyer@liser.lu
+352 585-855-501
Network Coordination
Christina Gathmann
christina.gathmann@liser.lu

The IZA@LISER Network is a global community of scholars dedicated to excellence in labor economics and related fields, now coordinated at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) following its transition from Bonn.

About IZA@LISER Network
Contact
IZA Network (Current Site Operator):

Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)
11, Porte des Sciences
Maison des Sciences Humaines
L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette / Belval, Luxembourg

IZA Institute (In Liquidation):

Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH i. L.
Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 5-9, 53113 Bonn. Germany
Phone: +49 228 3894-0 | Fax: +49 228 3894-510
E-Mail: info@iza.org | Web: www.iza.org
Represented by: Martin T. Clemens (Liquidator)