“I teach her at home”: Home learning environments amid resource constraints

ABSTRACT Objective This study examined how mothers with low incomes think about and enact investments of time and money for their infants and toddlers. Background Infancy and toddlerhood are pivotal years for development. Home learning environments in these earliest years can also set the stage for later home learning environments. Yet there are few institutional supports available to children at this age, underscoring the role of parental investments and the salience of resource access in parenting approaches. Methods This analysis used longitudinal, semistructured interviews with 80 mothers who were participating in an unconditional cash transfer experiment. Results Mothers described intentionally structuring their time, allocating resources, and shaping their spaces to construct the home learning environments they desired for their young children. The analysis of their narratives resulted in four characterizations of how mothers described investing in home learning environments for their infants and toddlers. Conclusion Mothers exercised agency in fostering the growth and development of their infants and toddlers by prioritizing and investing in home learning environments, highlighting how resources of time and money shaped their parenting. Implications Parents exert their agency in supporting the development of their young children, which policy can potentially activate and leverage by ensuring parents have adequate resources.