Children's Educational Attainment Research Articles

Intergenerational associations between paternal job loss and children's educational attainment in Japan

Intergenerational associations between paternal job loss and children's educational attainment in Japan

The Impact of Parental Education on Childrens Future Income

Abstract: This study examines the casual effect of parental educational achievement and family background on educational outcome and income for children. In addition, the study tests the parental education as an instrumental variable for childrens education. The 2022 United States General Social Survey (GSS2022) has been used as the dataset. This article uses Mincer earning function and instrumental variable regression to generate the outcomes between parental status, parental educational achievement, and the outcomes for children. The result indicates that the impact of parental educational achievement and advantage family background on income for children is negligible. The result also shows that the education has a significant effect on income. Furthermore, the study finds out that there is significant correlation between parental educational achievement and the educational achievement for children. In addition, the advantage family background has a significant impact on educational attainment for children. Moreover, the instrumental variable regression outcomes indicate that the difference between IV regression and OLS regression is small. This research uses the latest dataset to find out the casual effects of family background and parental education on childrens education and future income.

COVID-19, school closures and the retreat from educational aspirations.

As a shared external shock, the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) impacted health and well-being around the world. Mitigation strategies employed in many locations included school closures and travel restrictions. These strategies directly impacted educational access and opportunities and created economic stressors for families. This study examines how these direct impacts also altered educational aspirations for children and adolescents, an important predictor of educational attainment. We estimate multilevel regression models using two waves of data, collected in 2017-18 and 2020-21, from 1294 children and adolescents (Mean age = 13.1, SD = 2.8; 50.3% female) in Jalisco, Mexico, and 2201 children and adolescents (Mean age = 14.7, SD = 2.6; 49.1% female) in Chitwan Nepal. We examine changes in educational aspirations between the two waves (pre- and post-COVID-19 onset). Initial aspirations are positively associated with household wealth, caregiver education, and prior commitment to education. Multilevel regression models predicting changes in educational aspirations demonstrate these resources are important for maintaining high educational aspirations. But children and adolescents in households that experienced more economic loss following the external shock of the pandemic had lowered aspirations over time. Disruptions to schooling and economic shocks to households curtailed educational aspirations among children and adolescents in a similar way in two disparate settings. These results raise concerns about the educational attainment of children in the face of external shocks and the possibility that educational progress will stall in low resourced environments among the most vulnerable youth.

Children's Educational Attainment and Older Parents' Food Insecurity: Evidence From India.

Objectives: To examine the relationship between children's educational attainment and the risk of food insecurity among older parents and to determine if this relationship varies by the sex and residence of the children. Methods: This study utilized data from the Longitudinal Ageing Survey in India (LASI, 2017-18), comprising 25,914 individuals aged 60+ with at least one living child. Logistic regression, interaction analysis, and propensity score matching were employed to achieve the study's objectives. Results: Having a child with higher education (undergraduate or above) was associated with a 35% reduction in the odds of parents experiencing food insecurity. This negative relationship was significant for both sons' and daughters' education, with daughters' education having higher effect size. Conclusion: In a country like India, characterized by a weak welfare system but a strong collectivist family culture, children's education may play an important role in ensuring older parents' food security.

Adult child educational attainment and older parents’ psychosocial outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundOlder adults’ psychosocial outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic have been inequitable by socio-economic status (SES). However, studies have focused solely on own SES, ignoring emerging evidence of the relationship between adult child SES and late-life health. We evaluated whether adult child educational attainment – a core marker of SES – is associated with older parents’ psychosocial outcomes during the pandemic.MethodsWe used data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) 2004–2018 and the SHARE Corona Surveys (SCS) 2020 and 2021. We included 40,392 respondents ≥ 65 years who had pre-pandemic information on adult child educational attainment and self-reported psychosocial outcomes during the pandemic, including self-assessments of worsened psychosocial outcomes compared to the pre-pandemic period. We used generalized estimating equations with a Poisson distribution and a log link, adjusted for respondent and family-level characteristics, including respondents’ own educational attainment.ResultsOlder adults whose adult children averaged levels of educational attainment at or above (vs. below) their country-specific mean had a lower prevalence of feeling nervous (Prevalence Ratio [PR]: 0.94, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.90, 0.97), sad or depressed (PR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.91, 0.98), and having sleep problems (PR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90, 0.97) during the pandemic. Additionally, higher adult child educational attainment was associated with a lower risk of perceiving worsened feelings of nervousness (PR: 0.95, 95% CI: 0.90, 1.01) and worsened sleep problems (PR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.82, 1.01) as compared to the pre-pandemic. In stratified models, protective associations were observed only in countries experiencing “high” levels of COVID-19 intensity at the time of the survey. All of these results are derived from adjusted models.ConclusionsAdult child SES may have “upward” spillover effects on the psychosocial wellbeing of older parents during periods of societal duress like the pandemic.

Insights into the associations of polygenic risk scores and parents' socioeconomic status on students' educational achievement

A complex and multifaceted problem that has been widely studied in the field of education is the impact of genetic variables and parents' socioeconomic status (SES) on students' academic achievement. Children from low socioeconomic backgrounds struggle academically due to scarce resources, educational opportunities and developmental delays. For successful interventions and policies aiming at expanding educational opportunities and reducing performance gaps, it is essential to understand the relationship between these elements. To achieve this, we investigate the complex relationship between genetic characteristics, socioeconomic status and their combined effect on children's educational attainment. Families' financial position and children's acquired DNA differences, which can be integrated into Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS), are the two most important factors of children's educational success obtainable during childbirth. The sample consisted of 1451 low-income teenage females (n=718) enrolled in rural public schools between the ages of 14 and 19. We show that throughout the academic years, both the PRS and SES predict higher levels of educational achievement. In addition to predicting first-year academic success, we find that SES and PRS explain why students' grades fluctuate so much over a school year. Children with high PRS and high SES origins enroll in university at a rate of 70%, in contrast to 30% among individuals with lower PRS and lower SES families. We determine the relationships between SES and PRS as well as academic success are usually positive, indicating that their combined impact is significant for students at the extreme ends of the dispersion.

The role of parenting- and employment-related variables on fathers' involvement in their children's education.

Parent involvement strongly correlates with children's educational attainment. Sociocultural shifts in parenting roles and shared responsibilities have driven an increase in the need for involvement of fathers in activities to support their children's educational development. Several factors are thought to influence father involvement in children's education; however, the most salient factors remain unclear. To examine which variables correlate with father involvement in their children's education using a combination of demographic, parent-related and employment-related variance. A total of 166 fathers of at least one child aged 6-17 years and residing across five industrialized Western countries participated in an online survey. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis (HMRA) was performed to examine the total and incremental variance using regression models including demographic, parenting- and employment-related variables linked to educational involvement. The variables included in the current study could explain a large and statistically significant 34% of the variability in fathers' educational involvement. Of these variables, only four were statistically significant in the final model. Specifically, fathers were more likely to be engaged in their children's education when their children were younger, and when parent self-efficacy, positive work-to-family interface and financial anxiety were high. The study's findings indicate that a positive work environment can help fathers better support their children's education, offering a new focus for future interventions and policies. This includes those focused on targeting work-related constructs to optimize family functioning.

Nonstandard employment and support for older parents in urban China

The recent rise of nonstandard employment worldwide has significant implications for intergenerational transfers but has been neglected in existing research on the relationships between adult children's employment experiences and parental support. Utilizing data from the urban sample of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we examine how nonstandard employment is related to adult children's money (financial) and time (instrumental and emotional) support for parents. Our analyses among four groups of adult children reveal complex patterns in the nonstandard employment–parental support relationship by children's gender, coresidence status, and educational attainment. Results suggest nonstandard employment primarily undermines the financial ability to support parents among non-coresident daughters, but nonstandard jobs have little to do with daughters’ time caring for parents regardless of their coresident status. Meanwhile, nonstandard employment appears to be weakly related to help for parents in the short term among all adult sons. Disadvantages associated with nonstandard employment in upstream parental support, such as a “less money, less time” situation, are concentrated among less-educated adult children (mainly daughters) who live apart from their parents.

The impact of compulsory primary education law on the educational attainment of children: Evidence from Vietnam

AbstractThis study examines the short‐term impact of the compulsory primary education law (CPEL) on the educational attainment of children in Vietnam. This study uses the 1999 Vietnam Population and Housing Census and survival analysis to account for the right‐censoring problem in the educational outcomes of children. The study found that CPEL reduces the dropout rate of children by 12%. However, the effect is minor, especially when compared with the impact of family income and parents' education. This finding is similar to those of other studies, suggesting that in addition to CPEL, other family income support and parent‐oriented policies are crucial to improving children's educational attainment.

Covid-19 and Girl Child Educational Attainment in Selected Primary Schools in Kyamuhunga Sub-county, Bushenyi district-Western Uganda

Covid-19 and Girl Child Educational Attainment in Selected Primary Schools in Kyamuhunga Sub-county, Bushenyi district-Western Uganda

Child labour in cocoa growing regions of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire: an analysis of academic attainment in children engaged in hazardous labour.

ABSTRACT This paper examines the relationship between child labour and educational attainment and explores the distinction between harmful and non-harmful agricultural cocoa work. We conduct a secondary analysis of data on 3,338 children who reported attending school in 2018 across cocoa growing regions of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. To address differences between harmful and non-harmful child labour, we differentiated work completed by a child by hazardous activity engagement. These groups of child labour were then modelled against educational attainment, defined by a whether or not the child needed to repeat a class. We then conducted mediation analysis to assess whether injury mediates this relationship. Our results show that hazardous child labour increases the odds of repeating a class and work-related injury compared to non-hazardous labour. The effect of hazardous child labour on academic attainment was also found to be mediated by work-related injuries by 14%. Educational attainment is associated with hazardous labour activities and the odds of injury and not the act of participation in agricultural labour alone. Programmes based on strong measures of harmful work will foster better protection for children who are most at risk and may inform global debates around the benefits versus the risks of child labour.

Early educational attainment in children with major congenital anomaly in the UK

ObjectiveTo describe early educational attainment and special educational needs (SEN) provision in children with major congenital anomaly (CA) compared with peers.DesignAnalysis of educational data linked to the ongoing Born in...

Child mental health and educational attainment: Longitudinal evidence from the UK

There has been a recent spike in children's mental health problems and lost learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This study assesses the relationship between social, emotional and behavioural problems and academic attainment across the whole of mainstream schooling (ages 5–16). It uses a rich longitudinal dataset from the UK linked to national data on school records (N = 7,219), individual fixed effects, and repeated measures of mental health and attainment. It finds that within-individual changes in mental health across childhood predict changes in attainment, with hyperactivity and inattention the behaviours most strongly linked to adverse attainment outcomes. These difficulties are disproportionately seen in summer-born boys and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The negative relationship with attainment strengthens as children progress through school, and affects children with problems mild enough that they would never be diagnosed. Schools and health services can gain important insights about a child's educational trajectory based on brief behavioural information obtained from parents.

Household Instability and Girls’ Teen Childbearing

More than one third of U.S. children spend part of their childhood living with extended family members. By age 18, nearly 40% of U.S. children experience a household change involving a nonparent. Research has found that having extended family or nonrelatives join or leave children's households negatively affects children's educational attainment. I argue that we need new ways of theorizing, conceptualizing, and measuring household changes and their effects on children. I use the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and marginal structural models with inverse probability of treatment weighting to estimate the association between household changes involving parents and nonparents and teen childbearing among girls. I find that experiencing household changes involving nonparents and parents during childhood is associated with a significantly higher probability of having a child as a teenager than experiencing no changes. In addition, the association between changes involving parents and teen childbearing is statistically indistinguishable from the association between changes involving nonparents and teen childbearing, suggesting that household composition shifts involving nonparents can be as disruptive to girls as those involving parents.

Educational attainment of children with congenital heart disease in the United Kingdom.

Educational attainment in children with congenital heart disease (CHD) within the UK has not been reported, despite the possibility of school absences and disease-specific factors creating educational barriers. Children were prospectively recruited to the Born in Bradford birth cohort between March 2007 and December 2010. Diagnoses of CHD were identified through linkage to the congenital anomaly register and independently verified by clinicians. Multivariable regression accounted for relevant confounders. Our primary outcome was the odds of 'below expected' attainment in maths, reading, and writing at ages 4-11 years.Educational records of 139 children with non-genetic CHD were compared with 11188 age-matched children with no major congenital anomaly. Children with CHD had significantly higher odds of 'below expected' attainment in maths at age 4-5 years [odds ratio (OR) 1.64, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-2.52], age 6-7 (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.32-3.12), and age 10-11 (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.01-5.14). Odds worsened with age, with similar results for reading and writing. The odds of receiving special educational needs support reduced with age for children with CHD relative to controls [age 4-5: OR 4.84 (2.06-11.40); age 6-7: OR 3.65 (2.41-5.53); age 10-11: OR 2.73 (1.84-4.06)]. Attainment was similar for children with and without exposure to cardio-pulmonary bypass. Lower attainment was strongly associated with the number of pre-school hospital admissions. Children with CHD have lower educational attainment compared with their peers. Deficits are evident from school entry and increase throughout primary school.

Parental Incarceration and Children's Educational Attainment

Abstract This paper presents new evidence showing that parental incarceration increases children's education. I collect criminal records for 90,000 low-income parents who have been convicted of a crime in Colombia, and link the educational attainment of their children. I exploit exogenous variation resulting from the random assignment of judges and extend the standard framework to incorporate both conviction and incarceration decisions. I show that the effect of incarceration for a given conviction threshold can be identified. My results indicate that parental incarceration increases educational attainment by 0.78 years for the children of convicted parents on the margin of incarceration.

Growing up without health insurance: Evidence from rural China.

This paper examines the long-term effects of health insurance on children's educational attainment in a developing country. Utilizing the county-by-county rollout of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme in rural China, we find that exposure to the health insurance program in early life leads to improved educational attainment in adulthood. Empirical tests suggest that a short-term increase in health care utilization is unlikely to be a potential channel. We provide some evidence for the channel that health insurance reduces household financial burdens and increases household expenditure on children's nutrition.

Advantageous Online Learning During Covid-19 Pandemic: Why Parents Disbelieve?

Parents' expectations for children's educational attainment must be restrained by Covid-19 in 2020. In Indonesia, the virus has interfered with all levels of school to reform the mode of learning. An immediate decision made by the Ministry of Education was to implement full online learning. This situation uncovers obstacles that children and parents undergo. Even though the advantages of the policies have been perceived and published, the stakeholders need to express the problems too. This paper will exhibit parents’ disbelief toward online learning. The survey using questionnaire had been administered to 200 parents of elementary level students of Muhammadiyah Schools in Surabaya, Indonesia. The results show parents’ disbelief issues. Online learning is believed as burdensome to parents and children. It is also ineffective in accommodating competencies such as academic, affective, spiritual competencies, as well as talents and interests. Interviews were then conducted to investigate the factors: parents own limited time to assist children in studying, numbers of the family own limited gadget facilities, and children need to meet their teacher directly to understand the lesson. Finally, the implication after parents’ disbelief is revealed. Parents were becoming more emotional to the children along with their demotivation to the online learning as well as the lower academic, affective, and spiritual competence.

The Tradeoff of Child Labor: Evidence from Indonesia

Using data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS), this study examines the influence of child labor on wages and educational attainment in Indonesia. Several statistical methods, such as Propensity Score Matching (PSM), Quantile Regression, and robust Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) models, are used to analyze the relationship between child labor, income, and education while controlling for confounding variables. The findings indicate that child labor is initially associated with reduced wages, but this association becomes insignificant when other variables, such as years of education, are considered. Longer educational periods mitigate the negative effects of child labor on wages. In addition, the analysis reveals a tradeoff between child labor and educational attainment, highlighting the impact of child labor on education. Access to economic resources, however, mitigates this tradeoff, highlighting the importance of economic factors in children's decision-making. The study highlights the significance of child protection measures and effective socioeconomic policies to guarantee children's access to education and enhance their opportunities. It provides valuable insights into the effects of child labor on education and the role of economic factors in determining how children allocate their time.

Isolated choroid plexus cysts and health and developmental outcomes in childhood and adolescence – A systematic review

ObjectivesChoroid plexus cysts (CPCs) are incidental findings on ultrasound examination of the fetal brain. It is not known if isolated CPCs are associated with any adverse health or neurodevelopmental outcomes during the life course. This systematic review aimed to collate and synthesize the evidence on whether or not isolated choroid plexus cysts are associated with an increased risk of adverse health or developmental outcomes during childhood and adolescence. MethodsA search strategy was developed specifically for this study and applied to four electronic databases Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Studies were assessed and selected for inclusion if there was a measurement of CPC (including single or multiple; unilateral or bilateral; isolated or presenting alongside other markers) during the antenatal or early neonatal period (<7 days) with follow-up of children and adolescents for health and developmental outcomes measured at any time from age 1 month onwards. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Due to heterogeneity in the types of outcome measures included and the timing of measurement of outcomes across the studies, it was not possible to pool data across studies and a narrative description of findings was presented. ResultsEight studies (three cohorts and five case series) met the inclusion criteria. Different methods were used for outcome assessment, such as in-person assessment, parent questionnaires, medical records, and telephone interviews with parents. Six studies measured outcomes only once during the specified duration of follow-up; two studies carried out paediatric reviews of the children several times during follow-up. There were no differences in developmental outcomes or physical health between babies with CPCs reported in the three cohort studies, and no abnormalities were detected in the children that were followed up in four of the five case series studies. Most of the included studies were graded as low quality due to the small sample size, high risk of selection bias, unclear definitions of CPC or lack of a comparison group. ConclusionsThe studies conducted to date do not provide evidence of adverse physical health outcomes or neurodevelopmental delays in babies with CPCs. However, most of these studies were small and included a narrow range of outcomes. Further research is needed to explore the relative incidence of outcomes such as ASD, ADHD, epilepsy and educational attainment in children with CPCs.