Is Japan’s child allowance effective for the well-being of children? A statistical evaluation using data from K-CHILD study

Koyama, Yuna; Fujiwara, Takeo; Isumi, Aya; Doi, Satomi

doi:10.1186/s12889-020-09367-0

Table 1 Description of characteristics of family with/without child allowance before and after propensity score matching

From: Is Japan’s child allowance effective for the well-being of children? A statistical evaluation using data from K-CHILD study

Variables	Before matching						After matching
	Child allowance (−) N = 219		Child allowance (+) N = 7988		P-value	%bias	Child allowance (−) N = 217		Child allowance (+) N = 217		P-value	%bias
	N/Mean/Median	%/SD/IQR	N/Mean/Median	%/SD/IQR	P-value	%bias	N/Mean/Median	%/SD/IQR	N/Mean/Median	%/SD/IQR	P-value	%bias
Respondents
Mother	184	84.0	7144	89.43			182	83.9	176	81.1
Father	27	12.3	727	9.10		−10.4	27	12.4	31	14.3		6.0
Others	7	3.2	64	0.80		−17.1	7	3.2	9	4.2		6.6
Missing	1	0.5	53	0.66	0.004	2.8	1	0.5	1	0.5	0.872	0.0
Family size	4	1	4	1	0.568	7.6	4	1	4	1	0.676	5.6
Number of younger siblings	0	1	0	1	< 0.001	29.7	0	1	0	1	0.335	−5.9
Number of older siblings	1	1	0	1	0.047	−16.0	1	1	1	1	0.110	15.0
Number of grandparents	0	0	0	0	0.110	−7.6	0	0	0	0	0.711	0.0
Marital status
Married	181	82.7	6771	84.76			179	82.5	175	80.7
Divorced	33	15.1	1005	12.58		−7.2	33	15.2	36	16.6		4.0
Widowed	2	0.9	74	0.93		0.1	2	0.9	3	1.4		4.8
Unmarried	3	1.4	82	1.03		−3.2	3	1.4	3	1.4		0.0
Missing	0	0.0	56	0.70	0.568	11.9	0	0.0	0	0.0	0.940	0.0
Residential place
Prefectural capital city	100	45.7	2986	37.38			99	45.6	83	38.3
Within prefecture	117	53.4	4920	61.59		16.6	116	53.5	134	61.8		16.8
Outside of prefecture	2	0.9	30	0.38		−6.7	2	0.9	0	0.0		−11.5
Missing	0	0.0	52	0.65	0.024	11.4	0	0.0	0	0.0	0.080	0.0
Mother’s age	43.6	5.0	41	5.16	<0.001	−48.0	43.6	5.0	44.6	4.6	0.026	20.2
Father’s age	46.4	5.6	43	5.67	<0.001	−58.6	46.3	5.6	47.3	5.3	0.049	18.4
Mother’s education
High school or lower	52	23.7	2688	33.65			52	24.0	47	21.7
Technical/ junior college/ university dropout	96	43.8	3583	44.85		2.0	95	43.8	91	41.9		−3.7
University or higher	55	25.1	1327	16.61		−21.0	54	24.9	60	27.7		6.8
Missing/ unknown	16	7.3	390	4.88	<0.001	−10.1	16	7.4	19	8.8	0.823	5.8
Father’s education
High school or lower	53	24.2	3328	41.66			53	24.4	36	16.6
Technical/ junior college/ university dropout	30	13.7	1517	18.99		14.3	30	13.8	20	9.2		−12.5
University or higher	103	47.0	1945	24.35		−48.7	101	46.5	131	60.4		29.7
Missing/ unknown	33	15.1	1198	15.00	<0.001	−0.2	33	15.2	30	13.8	0.026	−3.9
Mother’s occupation
Full-time employee	77	35.2	2782	34.83			76	35.0	86	39.6
Part-time/ temporary employee	62	28.3	2919	36.54		17.6	62	28.6	51	23.5		−10.9
Self-employed/ others	23	10.5	888	11.12		2.0	23	10.6	14	6.5		−13.3
Not working	41	18.7	1055	13.21		−15.1	40	18.4	44	20.3		5.0
Missing	16	7.3	344	4.31	0.010	−12.8	16	7.4	22	10.1	0.286	11.8
Father’s occupation
Full-time employee	149	68.0	5070	63.47			147	67.7	149	68.7
Part-time/ temporary employee	2	0.9	304	3.81		19.1	2	0.9	1	0.5		−3.0
Self-employed/ others	33	15.1	1364	17.08		5.5	33	15.2	28	12.9		−6.3
Not working	1	0.5	75	0.94		5.8	1	0.5	0	0.0		−5.5
Missing	34	15.5	1175	14.71	0.125	−2.3	34	15.7	39	18.0	0.767	6.4
Mother’s working time	36.3	11.7	6	11.46	0.987	0.1	36.2	11.7	37.5	10.0	0.219	11.1
Father’s working time	48.7	14.4	48	11.48	0.288	−6.5	48.4	14.0	48.8	9.4	0.767	2.6
Income from employment (million JPY)
< 3.00	34	15.5	1585	19.84			34	15.7	34	15.7
3.00–5.99	44	20.1	2918	36.53		37.1	44	20.3	37	17.1		−7.3
6.00–9.99	36	16.4	1831	22.92		16.3	36	16.6	43	19.8		8.1
≧ 10.00	66	30.1	660	8.26		−57.7	64	29.5	71	32.7		8.5
Missing	39	17.8	994	12.44	<0.001	−15.0	39	18.0	32	14.8	0.685	−9.0
Respondent’s K6 score	1	4	2	5	0.027	15.1	1	4	2	4	0.619	4.5
Parental self-rated health
Excellent	73	33.3	2515	31.5			73	33.6	74	34.1
Very good	75	34.3	2569	32.2		−4.4	75	34.6	67	30.9		−7.8
Good	45	20.6	1987	24.9		10.3	45	20.7	48	22.1		3.3
Fair	15	6.9	593	7.4		2.2	15	6.9	17	7.8		3.6
Poor	4	1.8	52	0.7		−10.6	2	0.9	4	1.8		8.3
Missing	7	3.2	272	3.4	0.270	1.2	7	3.2	7	3.2	0.937	0.0
Maternal smoking habit
Current smoker	19	8.7	1084	13.6			19	8.8	12	5.5
Ex-smoker	24	11.0	1332	16.7		16.6	24	11.1	15	6.9		−12.0
Never	156	71.2	5196	65.1		−13.3	154	71.0	167	77.0		12.9
Missing	20	9.1	376	4.7	< 0.001	−17.5	20	9.2	23	10.6	0.222	5.5
Paternal smoking habit
Current smoker	52	23.7	2824	35.4			52	24.0	42	19.4
Ex-smoker	62	28.3	2144	26.8		−3.3	61	28.1	70	32.3		9.3
Never	70	32.0	1838	23.0		−20.1	69	31.8	69	31.8		0.0
Missing	35	16.0	1182	14.8	0.001	−3.3	35	16.1	36	16.6	0.638	1.3
Child’s sex
Boys	102	46.6	3781	47.3			101	46.5	98	45.2
Girls	109	49.8	4029	50.4		1.3	108	49.8	105	48.4		−2.8
Missing	8	3.7	178	2.2	0.348	−8.4	8	3.7	14	6.5	0.443	16.4
Child’s grade
1st	38	17.4	2428	30.4			38	17.5	29	13.4
5th	64	29.2	2671	33.4		9.1	64	29.5	62	28.6		−2.0
8th	117	53.4	2889	36.2	<0.001	−35.2	115	53.0	126	58.1	0.418	10.3

Bold signified p < 0.05 and |% bias| > 0.10
N, % and p-value for chi-square test were provided for parental education, maternal occupation, income, parental smoking status, and child grade
N, % and p-value for Fisher’s exact test were provided for respondents, marital status, residential place, paternal occupation, parental self-rated health, and child sex
Mean, SD and p-value for t-test were provided for parental age, and parental working time
Median, IQR and p-value for Wilcoxon rank-sum test were provided for family size, number of young siblings, number of old siblings, number of grandparents, and K6 score

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