Family, Literacy, and Skill Training in the Antebellum South: Historical-Longitudinal Evidence from Charleston
利用1790-1840年查尔斯顿的成人及儿童识字个体数据，研究发现白人成人识字率因性别和阶级差异显著且缓慢上升，母亲在儿童早期及之后的人力资本传递中起关键作用，近期识字获得和早期家庭结构影响儿童学徒职业，与当代研究一致。
Using individual measures of adult and child literacy, this article examines human capital acquisition in one Southern city, Charleston, 1790–1840. White adult literacy rates differed greatly by sex and class and rose gradually over time. Mothers played a critical role in human capital transmission in early childhood and long after children had left their care. Both relatively recent literacy acquisition and early childhood family structure influenced the occupation to which children were apprenticed. These results are consistent with present-day studies that trace sources of adult well-being back into childhood.