Childhood Influences on Adult Male Earnings in a Longitudinal Study

Abstract

ABStI'ltAGI' Evidence for the influence of the parental home and the school on adult male earnings is provided by a national longitudinal study. Earnings when cohort members were 36 years old were found to be related to aspects of their family of origin (fathers' social class, family size, parental education and interest in their offspring's education), with their early educational attainment and attitude to school work, with the type and quality of primary and secondary schooling and with their final level of educational qualifications. Statistical modelling to predict the men in the top third of earnings found that those from the most disadvantaged home backgrounds and from primary schools with poor academic records were significantly less likely to be high earners even after educational qualifications and achieved social class were taken into account. High scores on attainment tests taken at eight years mainly influenced earnings by improving an individual's chance of attending a selective secondary school which in turn led to better educational qualifications and hence a greater choice of well paid occupations. But for men with no qualifications high scores on these tests were also important predictors of the small minority who would become high earners. The ways in which early life factors may have influenced adult earnings are discussed.