Abstract
This study investigates the reasons for the gaps in educational attainment between children from married biological parents and alternative families. Socioeconomic resources and parental behaviors are well‐established reasons, but these factors do not explain the entire relationship between family structure and educational outcomes. We argue that these parental‐level factors influence children's academic socialization and thus indirectly contribute to differential educational outcomes. Hence, this study considers whether children's academic characteristics are a complementary explanation for the effect of family structure on education. The logistic regression analysis demonstrates that these characteristics represent an important explanation for the lower educational attainment of children from alternative families. The decomposition analysis shows that academic characteristics are the predominant reason for the gaps in postsecondary educational attainment between children from married biological parents and alternative families. These characteristics account for a relatively higher proportion of these gaps than the combined direct effects of parental socioeconomic status and parental behaviors.
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