Parental Lower-Income and Monetary Investment: Direct and Indirect Relation with Math Achievement during Third Grade in Bangladesh

Drawing from the family investment model we examined parental monetary investments in essential math materials and math tutoring as mediators of the association between lower-income and math achievement during third grade. Data were collected from Bangladeshi third-graders (N = 1150, Mage = 8.01 at baseline, 52.00% boys) and their mothers during the course of 12 months. Results from SEM suggested that there were significantly positive and direct relations between lower-income, fewer monetary investments, and poor math outcomes in grade 3, after accounting for child and maternal characteristics. Although all significantly estimated mediating pathways from lower-income to poor math outcomes were decreased by 30%, fewer parental monetary investments in number word-book, paper-book, pen-pencil box, and math tutoring than in calculator and geometry box explained a greater amount of variance in the associations of lower-income with poor math achievement, after accounting for control variables. Future directions for research and policy implications are discussed.