{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T11:24:49Z","timestamp":1783596289353,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"F1000 Research Ltd","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776124800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000865","name":"Gates Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["(INV-002741)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(INV-002741)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000865","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100016991","name":"African Economic Research Consortium","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["R122518"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R122518"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100016991","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["gatesopenresearch.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Gates Open Res"],"abstract":"<ns5:p>The study examined child development and family human capital investment decisions in Nigeria. The study focused on household per capita income and family structure using the Nigeria living standard survey for 2018\/2019 for the secondary data analysis and a field survey conducted by the researchers in six states in each of the geopolitical zones in Nigeria for the primary data analysis. The study was anchored on household utility maximization theory using the ordinary least squares (OLS) method to analyse the secondary data. Four different results were obtained. First, the result of findings from the OLS estimate revealed that per capita income had no significant impact on Family Human Capital Investment Decisions (FHCID) and male perception of the cost of education had a significant positive impact on FHCID. On the contrary, multi-dimensional poverty index and female perception of the cost of education had an inverse significant impact on FHCID. The second result revealed that average household size, family residence from 1 to 30 minutes proximity to school and 31 minutes and above proximity to school had no significant impact on FHCID. Dependency ratio showed an inverse significant impact on FHCID and family literacy level showed a significant positive impact on FHCID. The third result from the binary logistics regression showed that age, occupation and place of residence of the household head had no significant impact on FHCID. Gender (female-headed household) and education showed an inverse significant impact on FHCID. However, household head years in business or paid employment showed a positive impact on FHCID. The fourth result from the binary logistics regression revealed that marital status had no significant impact on FHCID; family size had a significant negative impact on FHCID; and family structure (type of parents) and number of girl child in the household had a direct impact on FHCID. This study showed complementarities in the home utility function, such that the marginal product of investments rises as family living standards rise. These findings highlight lifetime inequalities and necessitates a special focus on treatments for low-income households. Understanding human capital development and how diverse elements interact is critical to combating poverty and its intergenerational transmission. As a result, this study made several recommendations. First, the importance of persistent action by the government and other donor agencies such as the United Nation Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) and The World Bank to address the problems of income inequality and pervasive poverty ravaging Nigeria\u2019s economy. The study strongly recommends that family, especially parents, maintain justice and fairness within the home, to foster constructive, sympathetic and peaceful home, encouraging most children to exhibit excellent academic performance. Third, government agencies and hospitals, especially in rural areas, intensify family planning and birth control campaign to help reduce household size. Fourth, children of the poor be given opportunities for paid employment, to enhance their performance in the school. Fifth, children from poor homes be provided with access to scholarships, free instructional materials and books. Sixth, government and its agencies on education intensify sensitization and campaign for families to embrace Western education, especially in the northern region, promote compulsory primary basic education for all children and prosecute parents of out-of-school children or child labour to serve as a deterrent to others. Finally, the study recommends that non-governmental and religious organizations preach peace and tolerance within the family for the well-being and human capital development of their wards.<\/ns5:p>","DOI":"10.12688\/gatesopenres.16379.1","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T10:49:08Z","timestamp":1783594148000},"page":"15","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/gatesopenres.crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Child Development and Family Human Capital Investment Decisions in Nigeria: a Study of Selected States in the Six Geo-Political Zones"],"prefix":"10.12688","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Mohammed","family":"Yelwa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Abuja Federal Capital Territory 902101 University of Abuja Faculty of Social Sciences"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sarah O.","family":"Anyanwu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Abuja Federal Capital Territory 902101 University of Abuja Faculty of Social Sciences"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2560","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"96-103","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sbspro.2015.01.341","article-title":"Financial development, human capital accumulation, and economic growth: empirical evidence from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).","volume":"172","author":"A Abubakar","year":"2015","journal-title":"Procedia. Soc. Behav. Sci."},{"key":"ref2","first-page":"20-29","article-title":"Gender disparities in education and its implication for achievement for all (EFA) goals in Nigeria.","volume":"5","author":"G Adekola","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Afr. Hist. Sci. Educ."},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"48-52","DOI":"10.1016\/j.econlet.2017.04.014","article-title":"Threshold effects of human capital: Schooling and economic growth.","volume":"156","author":"H Ahsan","year":"2017","journal-title":"Econ. Lett."},{"key":"ref4","article-title":"Child Ability and Household Human Capital Investment Decisions in Burkina Faso.","author":"M Akresh","year":"2012","journal-title":"IZA Discussion Paper No. 5326."},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1360-1446","DOI":"10.1257\/jel.20171164","article-title":"Childhood circumstances and adult outcomes: Act II.","volume":"56","author":"D Almond","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Econ. Lit."},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"650-666","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1741-3737.2010.00723.x","article-title":"Research on divorce: Continuing trends and new developments.","volume":"72","author":"P Amato","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Marriage Fam."},{"key":"ref7","first-page":"280-286","article-title":"Impact of human capital on economic growth with an emphasis on the intermediary role of technology.","volume":"6","author":"M Amir","year":"2012","journal-title":"Afr. J. Bus. Manag."},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"222-236","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1741-3737.2006.00355.x","article-title":"Maternal cohabitation and child well \u2013 being among kindergarten children.","volume":"69","author":"J Artis","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Marriage Fam."},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"309-320","DOI":"10.2307\/2096106","article-title":"Family structure, parental practices and high school completion.","volume":"56","author":"N Astone","year":"1991","journal-title":"Am. Sociol. Rev."},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"575-584","DOI":"10.2307\/2061791","article-title":"\u201cFamily Structure, Residential Mobility, and School Dropout:\u201d A Research Notes.","volume":"31","author":"N Astone","year":"1994","journal-title":"Demography."},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"48-85","DOI":"10.1257\/aer.20150183","article-title":"Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Colombia.","volume":"110","author":"Attanasio","year":"2020","journal-title":"Am. Econ. Rev."},{"key":"ref13","first-page":"3129-3136","article-title":"\u201cSocial learning and personality development\u201d. In K. Oladele, K, ogunsola, A, Osuolade and O. O Akeritage. Parenthood and related fathers affecting students\u2019 academic achievement in Oyo State, Nigeria.","volume":"8","author":"A Bandura","year":"1965","journal-title":"International Journal of Social Behavioural, Educational, Economics, Business and Industrial Engineering."},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15-31","DOI":"10.1016\/j.asieco.2013.12.003","article-title":"Human capital, technological progress and trade: What explains India\u2019s long run growth?","volume":"30","author":"R Banerjee","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Asian Econ."},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1153-1189","DOI":"10.1086\/260831","article-title":"An equilibrium theory of the distribution of income and intergenerational mobility.","volume":"87","author":"G Becker","year":"1976","journal-title":"J. Polit. Econ."},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"52-73","DOI":"10.1086\/261039","article-title":"Parental preferences and provision for progeny.","volume":"90","author":"J Behrman","year":"1982","journal-title":"J. Polit. Econ."},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"125-187","DOI":"10.1016\/S1574-003X(97)80021-9","article-title":"Intrahousehold distribution and the family.","volume":"1","author":"J Behrman","year":"1997","journal-title":"Handb. Popul. Fam. Econ."},{"key":"ref19","article-title":"Majority of children live with two biological parents.","volume":"20","author":"R Bernstein","year":"2008","journal-title":"Archived from the original on."},{"key":"ref20","first-page":"350-373","article-title":"The nature of the child\u2019s tie to his mother.","volume":"39","author":"B Bowlby","year":"1958","journal-title":"Int. J. Psychoanal."},{"key":"ref21","first-page":"23-30","article-title":"Family structure and mediators of adolescent drug use.","volume":"7","author":"C Broman","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Fam. Issues."},{"key":"ref26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"329-354","DOI":"10.1177\/003804070607900403","article-title":"Martial transition, parenting and schooling: Exporting the link between family structure history and adolescent\u2019s academic status.","volume":"79","author":"S Cavanagh","year":"2006","journal-title":"Sociol. Educ."},{"key":"ref27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"217-225","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2003.12.013","article-title":"Adverse childhood experiences and the risk of disorders in adulthood.","volume":"82","author":"P Chapman","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Fam. Soc."},{"key":"ref28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.1016\/j.econmod.2017.09.021","article-title":"Industrial electricity consumption, human capital investment, and economic growth in Chinese cities.","volume":"69","author":"Y Chen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Econ. Model."},{"key":"ref32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"199-224","DOI":"10.1007\/s00148-008-0237-0","article-title":"Siblings, Child Labor, and Schooling in Nicaragua and Guatemala.","volume":"23","author":"A Dammert","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Popul. Econ."},{"key":"ref33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"777-801","DOI":"10.1177\/0266242612475103","article-title":"Start-up absorptive capacity: Does the owner\u2019s human and social capital matter.","volume":"32","author":"J Debrulle","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. Small Bus. J."},{"key":"ref35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"F136-F183","DOI":"10.1111\/ecoj.12340","article-title":"Transfers to households with children and child development.","volume":"126","author":"D Del Boca","year":"2016","journal-title":"Econ. J."},{"key":"ref37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4312","DOI":"10.3390\/nu13124312","article-title":"Trends of stunting prevalence and its associated factors among Nigerian children aged 0\u201359 months residing in the northern Nigeria, 2008\u20132018.","volume":"13","author":"O Ezeh","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nutrients."},{"key":"ref39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"158-164","DOI":"10.5539\/jedp.v2n2p158","article-title":"Single-parent family structure, psychological, social and cognitive development of children in Ekiti State.","volume":"2","author":"B Falana","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Educ. Dev. Psychol."},{"key":"ref41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1657-1674","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-8624.2007.01091.x","article-title":"Living arrangements and children\u2019s development in low- income white, black and Latino families.","volume":"78","author":"E Foster","year":"2007","journal-title":"Child Dev."},{"key":"ref43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"F1-F27","DOI":"10.1111\/ecoj.12388","article-title":"Child Development and Parental Investment.","volume":"126","author":"M Francesconi","year":"2018","journal-title":"Econ. J."},{"key":"ref44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"471-493","DOI":"10.1007\/s001480050080","article-title":"Sibling Rivalry and the Gender Gap: Evidence from Child Health Outcomes in Ghana.","volume":"11","author":"A Garg","year":"1998","journal-title":"J. Popul. Econ."},{"key":"ref45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"204-212","DOI":"10.1016\/j.econedurev.2013.04.005","article-title":"Economic growth in developing countries: The role of human capital.","volume":"37","author":"E Hanushek","year":"2013","journal-title":"Econ. Educ. Rev."},{"key":"ref46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/8362.003.0011","article-title":"Policies to create and destroy human capital in Europe.","author":"J Heckman","year":"2011"},{"key":"ref47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"689-733","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-economics-080213-040753","article-title":"The economics of human development and social mobility.","volume":"6","author":"J Heckman","year":"2014","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Econom."},{"key":"ref48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"13250-13255","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0701362104","article-title":"The economics, technology, and neuroscience of human capability formation.","volume":"104","author":"J Heckman","year":"2007","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"ref49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3-42","DOI":"10.1016\/0304-3932(88)90168-7","article-title":"On the mechanics of economic development.","volume":"22","author":"R Lucas","year":"1988","journal-title":"J. Monet. Econ."},{"key":"ref51","first-page":"92-96","article-title":"Why Doesn\u2019t Capital Flow from Rich to poor Countries?","volume":"80","author":"R Lucas","year":"1990","journal-title":"Am. Econ. Rev."},{"key":"ref52","first-page":"2252-2262","article-title":"Single parenting and its effects on the psychosocial development of children in Swaziland.","volume":"5","author":"N Mabuza","year":"2014","journal-title":"Mediterr. J. Soc. Sci."},{"key":"ref53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1-24","DOI":"10.3138\/jcfs.37.1.1","article-title":"Family size, family type and student achievement: Cross-national differences and the role of socioeconomic and school factors.","volume":"37","author":"G Marks","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Comp. Fam. Stud."},{"key":"ref55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/23311886.2019.1653531","article-title":"Sustainable development: Meaning, history, principles, pillars, and implications for human action: Literature review.","volume":"5","author":"J Mensah","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cogent Social Sciences."},{"key":"ref57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"471-493","DOI":"10.1007\/s001480050080","article-title":"Sibling Rivalry and the Gender Gap: Evidence from Child Health Outcomes in Ghana.","volume":"11","author":"J Morduch","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Popul. Econ."},{"key":"ref58","first-page":"61-66","article-title":"Single-parent family. Am emerging in Nigeria.","volume":"16","author":"F Nwachukwu","year":"1998","journal-title":"The counsellor."},{"key":"ref59","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.21083\/ajote.v4i1.2930","article-title":"\u201cEarly childhood education in Nigeria, policy implementation:\u201d Critique and a way forward.","volume":"4","author":"N Obiweluozor","year":"2015","journal-title":"Afr. J. Teach. Educ."},{"key":"ref60","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"863-898","DOI":"10.2307\/146296","article-title":"Daughters, education, and family budgets: Taiwan experiences.","volume":"28","author":"W Parish","year":"1993","journal-title":"J. Hum. Resour."},{"key":"ref61","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4032-4053","DOI":"10.1002\/ijfe.2003","article-title":"Financial innovation, human capital development, and economic growth of selected South Asian countries: An application of ARDL approach.","volume":"26","author":"M Qamruzzaman","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Financ. Econ."},{"key":"ref62","first-page":"53-63","article-title":"The human capital development and economic growth in Latvia. European.","volume":"9","author":"M Romele","year":"2013","journal-title":"Sci. J."},{"key":"ref63","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"255-286","DOI":"10.1257\/app.20180698","article-title":"What Is the Added Value of Preschool for Poor Children? Long-Term and Intergenerational Impacts and Interactions with an Infant Health Intervention.","volume":"12","author":"M Rossin-Slater","year":"2020","journal-title":"Am. Econ. J. Appl. Econ."},{"key":"ref64","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"207-225","DOI":"10.1016\/S0305-750X(01)00107-3","article-title":"Why Government should invest more to Educate Girls.","volume":"30","author":"T Schultz","year":"2007","journal-title":"World Dev. J."},{"key":"ref65","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"296-332","DOI":"10.3102\/0034654318825437","article-title":"A Meta-Analysis of Family-School Interventions and Children\u2019s Social-Emotional Functioning: Moderators and Components of Efficacy.","volume":"89","author":"S Sheridan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Rev. Educ. Res."},{"key":"ref66","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"65-94","DOI":"10.2307\/1884513","article-title":"A contribution to the theory of economic growth.","volume":"70","author":"R Solow","year":"1956","journal-title":"Q. J. Econ."},{"key":"ref67","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"29-56","DOI":"10.1142\/S0116110510500083","article-title":"Human capital development.","volume":"27","author":"H Son","year":"2010","journal-title":"Asian Dev. Rev."},{"key":"ref68","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2158244015615166","DOI":"10.1177\/2158244015615166","article-title":"Human capital, technology, and economic growth: Evidence from Nigeria.","volume":"5","author":"C Sulaiman","year":"2015","journal-title":"SAGE Open."},{"key":"ref70","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"183-197","DOI":"10.1080\/10852352.2010.486297","article-title":"Parent involvement and student academic performance: A multiple meditational analysis.","volume":"38","author":"D Topor","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Prev. Interv. Community."},{"key":"ref71","article-title":"\u201cThe Education of Girls:\u201d The Quaduougou Declaration and Framework for Action. Pan African Conference on the Education for Girls.","year":"2009"},{"key":"ref73","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"210-232","DOI":"10.2307\/2095967","article-title":"Family structure and the risk of a pre \u2013 marital birth.","volume":"58","author":"L Wu","year":"1993","journal-title":"Am. Sociol. Rev."},{"key":"ref75","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","author":"M Yelwa","year":"2025","DOI":"10.6084\/m9.figshare.28189367.v1"}],"container-title":["Gates Open Research"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/10-15\/v1\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/10-15\/v1\/pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/10-15\/v1\/iparadigms","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T10:49:20Z","timestamp":1783594160000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/10-15\/v1"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]]},"references-count":55,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/gatesopenres.16379.1","relation":{"has-preprint":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.12688\/verixiv.362.3","asserted-by":"subject"}]},"ISSN":["2572-4754"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2572-4754","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]]},"assertion":[{"value":"Awaiting Peer Review","URL":"https:\/\/gatesopenresearch.org\/articles\/10-15\/v1#article-reports","order":0,"name":"referee-status","label":"Referee status","group":{"name":"current-referee-status","label":"Current Referee Status"}},{"value":"This study was fully funded by the Melinda and Gates Foundation (INV-002741) under the supervision of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).\r\nThe grant number for this project is R122518, and the grantees are Professors Mohammed Yelwa and Sarah O. Anyanwu of the Department of Economics, University of Abuja, Nigeria. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.","order":0,"name":"grant-information","label":"Grant Information"},{"value":"This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.","order":0,"name":"copyright-info","label":"Copyright"}]}}