Parental Socioeconomic Background Research Articles

Intergenerational transmission of unemployment after apprenticeship graduation: does parental socioeconomic background still matter?

A smooth transition from apprenticeship to standard employment is a key step in the professional biographies of apprenticeship graduates. In this study, the transition of apprenticeship graduates from households that receive unemployment benefits are considered. These graduates are thought to be disadvantaged because their parents’ socioeconomic background is assumed to influence their employment outcomes through processes of intergenerational transmission and cumulative disadvantage. Based on administrative data from the Sample of Integrated Welfare Benefit Biographies (SIG) provided by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), this analysis offers deeper insights into parental socioeconomic background and the individual factors that affect the risk of unemployment following the completion of an apprenticeship. In the case of an unsuccessful direct transition to standard employment, the factors influencing the duration of the first unemployment are also assessed. The results show that, as with individual characteristics, parents’ education level has a significant effect on the graduates’ risk of unemployment. The duration of the household’s benefit receipt, on the other hand, significantly influences the duration of the first unemployment in the case of an unsuccessful transition following an apprenticeship.

Early life social and health determinants of higher education across three generations

Abstract Background Associations of social and health disadvantages at birth with educational attainment are well-documented. Less is known about the magnitude of the associations across different historical contexts. We investigated associations between a range of early life disadvantages and higher educational attainment across three successive generations. Methods The data were from the register-based Uppsala Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study in Sweden. The study samples include three generations born in 1915-1929 (G1, n = 10 587), 1933-1972 (G2, n = 6566), and 1973-1978 (G3, n = 6684). The outcome was attainment of higher education (more than senior high school) assessed at age 30+ years. Exposures were parental socioeconomic position (SEP), mother's marital status, parity, gestational age and birth weight for gestational age. Multiple logistic regression models were fitted to evaluate the associations across three generations. Results are presented as Average Marginal Effects (AME). Results Low parental SEP was associated with lower probability of higher educational attainment in all three generations. The difference between low versus high parental SEP among men declined by 32 percentage points in G2 (AME: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.27, 0.38) and 27 percentage points in G3 (AME: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.21, 0.33) compared to G1. Among women, the corresponding declines in G2 and G3 were 35 and 28 percentage points. Mothers’ unmarried marital status and high parity were associated with lower probability of education, with no evidence of decline across generations. The association between small for gestational age and education among men persisted across generations while showing a decline in G3 women. Conclusions Associations between early life factors and education persisted across three generations. The influence of parental socioeconomic background on educational attainment appeared to level off in the youngest generation after becoming attenuated in the preceding generation. Key messages • Association between small for gestational age and educational attainment persisted across generations, with an attenuation among the youngest cohort of women. • High parity was associated with lower chance of educational attainment, with no evidence of effect attenuation across generations.

Understanding the disparity of educational attainment in Northern Ireland: The role of socio-demographic and school-level factors on GCSE attainment.

ObjectivesThis study examined the individual and collective impacts of socio-demographics and school-level factors on GCSE outcomes in Northern Ireland, using linked administrative data. A pupil’s sex, religious affiliation and socio-economic background (measured by eight measures) were examined, along with parental socio-economic background, attended school type (grammar/non-grammar) and school management structure.
 MethodThis study used the first linked administrative dataset for education in Northern Ireland. The dataset linked the 2011 household Census, School Leavers Survey (2010-2014) and School Census (2010-2014) for the first time. Data were provided for three pupil cohorts who completed their GCSE examinations in consecutive academic years (2010/2011 – 2012/2013).
 The study conducted multilevel models to understand the nested effects of pupil-, household- and school-level factors on GCSE attainment outcomes. Interaction models were also executed to examine the multiplicative effects of a pupil’s sex, religious affiliation and socio-economic background on their educational attainment.
 ResultsThe findings of this study highlight that the impact of socio-economic status is multidimensional, with some measures having a greater impact on GCSE attainment than others. For example, a mother’s education qualifications had the largest impact of socio-economic measures included in the multilevel models. The analysis also found that Free School Meal Eligibility remains an important predictor of attainment outcomes. When considering pupils’ sex, females had higher GCSE attainment scores than males. However, religious affiliation had a varied influence on GCSE outcomes, indicating the need for a more nuanced approach when considering this factor. The importance of interaction terms to gain an in-depth understanding of the multiplicative effect of factors on attainment outcomes was also highlighted in the analysis.
 ConclusionThrough the use of linked administrative data, this study highlights the hierarchy of socio-economic effects on GCSE attainment outcomes in Northern Ireland. It also highlights the importance of collectively considering the factors that make up a pupil’s demographic profile to garner a holistic understanding of attainment trends in Northern Ireland.

Better than average? Parental competence beliefs and socioeconomic background

This article investigates the extent to which parents believe they are better than average parents using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. The article builds on a long tradition of sociological research focusing on the interconnections between parenting, class, education and inequality. We find that mothers with low levels of education are more likely to say they are average or worse than average parents. Relatedly, we show that those who are highly educated are more likely to consider themselves as being better than average, even when a range of child and mother characteristics such as mother’s mental health and child’s cognitive and socio-emotional development are considered. These findings are linked to research showing how certain groups of parents are stigmatised or valorised in popular and political discourse. Our article also extends scholarship by examining the connection between parental mental health and parental competence beliefs.

Socioeconomic differences in parental financial support, coresidence, and advice: A portrait of undergraduate students in the Canadian Prairies.

In this paper, we examine the intersections of parental support and family socioeconomic background within an undergraduate sample (N = 596) in a mid-sized Canadian Prairie city. Coresidence, financial support, and parental and professional financial advice are examined as types of 'family capital' that may be distributed unequally across socioeconomic groups. In keeping with previous literature, findings showed that students whose parents had university education and higher incomes received more robust coverage of their housing and school expenses. Students whose parents were university-educated were also more likely to be living with a parent, though no relationship was found between parental income and coresidence. Contrasting with previous literature, few relationships were found between socioeconomic background and receipt or influence of financial advice. These results contribute to the literature by generalising claims about family capital to a Canadian student sample, where relatively few studies have empirically examined intergenerational transfers as mechanisms for transmitting privilege during the transition to adulthood. With increasing demands for higher education and simultaneous declines in government subsidisation of its costs, disparate access to family capital is likely to intensify the reproduction of social inequality across generations.

Children’s Online Safety: Predictive Factors of Cyberbullying and Online Grooming Involvement

The increase in the use of the Internet, strongly boosted by the spread of COVID-19, has amplified the risk of involvement in cyberbullying and online grooming among minors. To date, most research on these phenomena has focused on middle and high school students, with fewer studies on younger children. The present study aims to fill this knowledge gap by measuring the spread of cyberbullying and online grooming in a sample of 410 primary school students in the city of Rome and by identifying the main individual and environmental predictors associated with the involvement of children in these phenomena using factor analysis. Results indicate that both cyberbullying and online grooming are widespread among respondents, showing common traits within the four latent dimensions identified. Screen time is among the main predictors of children’s involvement, together with parental supervision, phubbing behaviours, prosocial tendencies and family socio-economic background. These findings highlight the need for further studies on representative samples of this age group, as well as for a greater cooperative effort among schools, parents and caregivers to keep children safe in the virtual world.

The social care-taking of the city-kids. Determinants for day-care attendance in early twentieth-century southern Sweden

ABSTRACT The introduction of a child day-care system is one of the early welfare interventions targeted towards mothers and young children that over time gained great prominence in the Swedish welfare state. Because quantitative research on day-cares in historical settings is generally scarce, in this study, we focus on the determinants of day-care enrolment in southern Sweden during the early twentieth century. We use unique individual-level records of day-care attendance for children born between 1900 and 1935 which have been linked to longitudinal micro-level data for the city of Landskrona obtained from the Scanian Economic Demographic Database. Event-history techniques are employed to analyse the importance of factors such as household composition, parental socio-economic background, marital status of the mother, and mother’s occupation. Of the studied children, 8% were ever enrolled in day-cares, most of them around the ages 3 to 6. The results show that the mother’s marital status, household SES, number of siblings, the presence of other adult females in the household and mother’s occupation are all significant determinants of day-care attendance for children. In this study, we show that in the early twentieth century in southern Sweden, day-care attendance followed a negative SES gradient and was most common among children of single mothers.

The Impact of Parental Socioeconomic Background on the Schooling and Academic Performance of Students in District Dir Upper: A Qualitative Analysis

Children’s schooling is important for their personal growth and plays a vital role in socioeconomic development of a nation. Parents’ socioeconomic background plays a vital role in shaping children’s schooling and impacts their academic achievement. Children of the upper class parents have enough resources available for fulfilling the requirements of their studies, while children of poor parents have lesser resources to support their education. This study aims at empirically diagnosing the relationship between parental socio-economic background and children (students) schooling and academic achievements. The study was conducted in Tehsil Dir of District Dir Upper, while applying qualitative research deign. The primary data was collected from a sample of twenty four (24) purposively selected respondents. The respondents comprised of two different categories i.e. 12 students selected from Class X to Class XII from the Govt. Higher Secondary School Gandigar Dir Upper and 12 Parents including 06 from poor family background and 06 from rich family background. Primary data was obtained through interview, using semi-structured interview guide. The study found that children of poor parents are not performing well in their academic career as they have lesser opportunities and resources. They also remain absent from school to help their parents in agriculture field, business and homework etc. Further, the study revealed that rich parents have positive impacts on the academic achievements of their children. The study suggests provision of equal educational opportunities to children of both poor and rich families. The study also suggests supporting the poor students with scholarships, technical and free education so to avoid widening the existing gap among rich and poor students.   

Lower Availability of Mitochondrial Complex I in Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Autism: A Positron Emission Tomography Study.

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in previous studies of postmortem brain or peripheral samples. The authors investigated whether and where mitochondrial dysfunction occurs in the living brains of individuals with ASD and to identify the clinical correlates of detected mitochondrial dysfunction. This case-control study used positron emission tomography (PET) with 2-tert-butyl-4-chloro-5-{6-[2-(2-[18F]fluoroethoxy)-ethoxy]-pyridin-3-ylmethoxy}-2H-pyridazin-3-one ([18F]BCPP-EF), a radioligand that binds to the mitochondrial electron transport chain complex I, to examine the topographical distribution of mitochondrial dysfunction in living brains of individuals with ASD. Twenty-three adult males with high-functioning ASD, with no psychiatric comorbidities and free of psychotropic medication, and 24 typically developed males with no psychiatric diagnoses, matched with the ASD group on age, parental socioeconomic background, and IQ, underwent [18F]BCPP-EF PET measurements. Individuals with mitochondrial disease were excluded by clinical evaluation and blood tests for abnormalities in lactate and pyruvate levels. Among the brain regions in which mitochondrial dysfunction has been reported in postmortem studies of autistic brains, participants with ASD had significantly decreased [18F]BCPP-EF availability specifically in the anterior cingulate cortex compared with typically developed participants. The regional specificity was revealed by a significant interaction between diagnosis and brain regions. Moreover, the lower [18F]BCPP-EF availability in the anterior cingulate cortex was significantly correlated with the more severe ASD core symptom of social communication deficits. This study provides direct evidence to link in vivo brain mitochondrial dysfunction with ASD pathophysiology and its communicational deficits. The findings support the possibility that mitochondrial electron transport chain complex I is a novel therapeutic target for ASD core symptoms.

Associations between parental socioeconomic-, family-, and sibling status and risk of eating disorders in offspring in a Danish national female cohort.

ObjectiveStudies on parental socioeconomic status (SES) and family risk factors for eating disorders (EDs) have yielded inconsistent results; however, several studies have identified high parental educational attainment as a risk factor. The aim was to evaluate associations of parental SES and family composition with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) in the offspring, adjusting for parental age and parental mental health.MethodsThe cohort included women born in Denmark between January 1, 1989 and December 31, 2010, derived from Danish national registers. Each person was followed from their sixth birthday until onset of the disorder of interest or to December 31, 2016. Exposure variables were: childhood SES, defined as individually evaluated parental level of income, occupation, and education; sibling status; and family composition. Outcomes were: AN, BN, EDNOS, and major depressive disorder (MDD), included as a psychiatric comparison disorder. Risks were estimated using Cox proportional hazards.ResultsHigh parental SES was associated with increased risk of especially AN, and less so BN and EDNOS, in offspring. In comparison, low SES was associated with a higher risk of MDD. No differences between maternal or paternal socioeconomic risk factors were found. Family composition and sibling status showed limited influence on ED risk.DiscussionSES shows opposite associations with AN than MDD, whereas associations with BN and EDNOS are intermediate. The socioeconomic backdrop of AN differs markedly from that reported in other psychiatric disorders. Whether that is due to genetic and/or environmental factors remains unknown.Public Significance statementParental socioeconomic background (SES) may influence eating disorders risk in offspring somewhat differently than other psychiatric disorders. In Denmark, higher parental SES was associated with increased risk of, particularly, anorexia nervosa (AN). Importantly AN does strike across the SES spectrum. We must ensure that individuals of all backgrounds have equal access to care and are equally likely to be detected and treated appropriately for eating disorders.

Robust determinants of neurocognitive development in children: evidence from the Pune Maternal Nutrition Study.

Neurocognitive development is a dynamic process over the life course and is influenced by intrauterine factors as well as later life environment. Using data from the Pune Maternal Nutrition Study from 1994 to 2008, we investigate the association of in utero, birth, and childhood conditions with offspring neurocognitive development in 686 participants of the cohort, at age 12 years. The life course exposure variables in the analysis include maternal pre-pregnancy size and nutrition during pregnancy, offspring birth measurements, nutrition and physical growth at age 12 years along with parental education and socio-economic status. We used the novel Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) approach; which has been shown to have better predictive performance over traditional tests of associations. Our study employs eight standard neurocognitive tests that measure intelligence, working memory, visuo-conceptual and verbal learning, and decision-making/attention at 12 years of age. We control for nutritional-metabolic information based on blood measurements from the pregnant mothers and the children at 12 years of age. Our findings highlight the critical role of parental education and socio-economic background in determining child neurocognitive performance. Maternal characteristics (pre-pregnancy BMI, fasting insulin during pregnancy) and child height at 12 years were also robust predictors on the BMA. A range of early factors - such as maternal folate and ferritin concentrations during pregnancy, and child's head circumference at birth - remained important determinants of some dimensions of child's neurocognitive development, but their associations were not robust once we account for model uncertainty. Our results suggest that intrauterine influences on long- term neurocognitive outcomes may be potentially reversible by post-birth remediation. In addition to the current nutritional interventions, public health policy should also consider social interventions in children born into families with low socio-economic status to improve human capital.

Understanding Parental School Choice in Varied Socio-economic Milieus: A Case Study of a Village in Punjab

With the upsurge of private schools, parents are struggling with a variety of schooling options. Given the exclusionary nature of privatisation, the market has led to the reproduction of social inequality amidst a plurality of choice. By mapping the school choice process, the article aims to explore school choice in the varied socio-economic milieu in a village in Punjab. Based on the qualitative data collected with the help of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs), the study draws linkages between the determinants of school choice and the positionality of parents. The findings of the study dissect the simple yet complex process of school choice along common factors, that is, teachers, quality of education, learning environment, English education and private tutoring. Drawing upon the nuanced analysis of these factors with parental socio-economic background, the study argues that it is important to understand the varied expectations, aspirations and challenges of parents from diverse sections to comprehend the school choice process.

On the relations of sociocognitive childhood characteristics, education, and socioeconomic success in adulthood

Sociocognitive characteristics—ranging from self-concepts and interests to goals and self-esteem—have been discussed as key drivers predicting adult socioeconomic success. This study analyzes how childhood sociocognitive characteristics relate to adult socioeconomic success (education, occupational status, and income). Drawing on Eccles et al.’s expectancy value theory, we operationalized sociocognitive characteristics comprehensively via academic self-concept, academic interest, professional goal aspirations and professional goal certainty, and self-esteem. Based on a German sample, we explored the extent to which potential relations were independent of other central childhood factors—namely intelligence and parental socioeconomic background—as well as of adult educational attainment, which simultaneously served as a mediator and outcome. Additionally, we used school track as a moderator variable for these relations. We thus tested the idea that the effects of childhood factors are strongly mediated and moderated by education in highly structured education systems like Germany. Our sample of N = 3906 randomly sampled participants came from a German prospective longitudinal study in which respondents were first assessed at age 12 in 1991 and last surveyed in 2009/10. All characteristics were related to socioeconomic success indicators. However, education played a central role in mediating almost all of the effects of childhood characteristics, as education was the strongest predictor for socioeconomic success, and sociocognitive characteristics—especially self-esteem, professional aspirations, and academic self-concept—predicted education. School tracks moderated these relationships, with sociocognitive characteristics being particularly predictive in the academic track. Furthermore, the effects of sociocognitive characteristics shared substantial variance with intelligence and socioeconomic background. Nevertheless, professional aspirations, academic self-concept, and—in the academic track—academic interests exhibited unique effects, predicting not only education but also further adult socioeconomic success.

Using Latent Class Analysis to Link Career and Technical Education in Adolescence and Work and School Transitions in Young Adulthood

Career and technical education (CTE) has recently gained national attention as a means of promoting college and career readiness. However, little is known about the joint trajectories of school and work during and following CTE participation in high school. Using the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, we conducted latent class analyses to examine latent pathways connecting high school CTE participation with employment during high school, as well as the subsequent educational and work transitions. Four latent pathways were identified, defined as: (a) CTE-to-work pathway, (b) BA-focused pathway, (c) Workfocused pathway, and (d) low-career motivation pathway. Analysis of the precursors revealed that male students tend to follow work-related paths and females tend to take more education-focused paths. Further, higher math and reading test scores, and higher parental socioeconomic background were associated with a higher likelihood of taking the BA-focused pathway as opposed to the CTE-to-work pathway, and of taking the CTE-to-work pathway compared to the work-focused and low-career motivation pathways. Both the BA-focused and CTE-to-work groups had relatively higher earnings and job satisfaction compared to the other two latent path groups.

A Review of Parental Input, Investment and Social Stratification in Children's Sport Participation

Background: The difference of parental involvement in children's sport activities is a hot social issue when parental socio-economic background is investigated. Parental input, investment and social stratification could influence children's sport participation. Purpose: This study investigates the levels of parental physical activity and their investment in children's sport involvement across different socio-economic backgrounds. It expects to find out the best predictor in understanding the relationship of parental sport involvement across different socio-economic situation. Methods: Questionnaire survey method was selected and 863 valid questionnaires were collected. The questionnaire content included questions about families' basic information, social stratification, parental physical activity and parental investment in children's sport involvement. Results: When parents in low, middle and high social classes were compared, there were significant differences in parents' levels of physical activity, spiritual support, financial support, opportunities given and daily physical activity (all p < 0.01). Significant correlations between daily physical activity, physical exercise and social stratification were found (p < 0.01). Another significant correlation was found between spiritual and financial support, opportunities given and social stratification (p < 0.01). Parental investment, parents' level of physical activity and physical exercise were the predictive values for understanding children's sport involvement. Conclusion: The higher social stratification, the higher parental physical activity and parental investment will be involved in children's sport. Physical exercise had the highest predictive power as it related to parental investment in children's sports participation.

Does parental socioeconomic background influence body image and attachment style among university students? Evidence from a European cross-sectional study

In order to investigate the impact of parental socioeconomic background on university students’ body image and social attachment, in this article we explore to what extent this relation is reinforced or modified by a third variable: overweight and obesity. For this purpose, the study draws on a cross-sectional data set (n = 980) of university students from Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Croatia and the Czech Republic. Based on the combination of the Body Esteem Scale (BES) and the Attachment Style Scale (WASQ), we created four types of students: “double jeopardy students”, “well-balanced students”, “nurturing solitude students” and “social mirroring students”. We used a simple linear probability model and regression analyses to test our hypothesis. We found that more than half of the “double jeopardy” (53%) and “social mirroring” (60%) students have low-income parents, and the overweight problem cut across these two groups of undergraduates. The students that scored highest on the overall mental well-being scale were the “well-balanced” students. The impact of parental socioeconomic background on body image and social attachment style between fields of studies is similar to that between “double jeopardy” or “well-balanced” students, regardless of whether they belong to the humanities and social sciences or natural and technical sciences. Our results indicate that high parental income increased resistance to poor body image and social attachment, and students who are overweight and/or obese are more likely to have poor body image and social attachment.

Public or private school? Determinants for enrolment of adolescents in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Inequality in access to quality education is wide-ranging across and within countries. This study examines determinants for adolescents’ school enrolment in private and public schools in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, including 2,039 randomly selected school-attending adolescents. The survey methodology was built on the Planet Youth collaboration and is the first of its kind in the setting. The critical determinant for attending a private school rather than a public one reflects parental socioeconomic background, i.e., education, employment status, and financial resources, not gender. Overage class enrolment is common, particularly in public schools and among boys rather than girls. National and international collective action and innovative education policies are needed for Bissau-Guinean adolescents to enjoy their right to the quality education they are entitled to.

Exploring parental responses to social and safety needs of school-age children during COVID-19 pandemic in Ogun State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT The corona virus has emerged as a dreaded disease globally, and it is no longer a news that the virus is a killer disease. It has paralyzed individual and nations’ economic activities due to the governments’ orders made to curtail its spread. Based on this, the researchers explored parental responses to social and safety needs of their school children during the pandemic in Ogun State, Nigeria. Four research questions were raised, and a questionnaire titled “COVID-19 Pandemic and Parental Response to School Children Survey” (online) was used to elicit data from 5,340 respondents. The data collected were analyzed using frequency count, simple percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Analysis of Variance. The findings revealed that the parental response to their children social needs was high, while their response to safety needs was low. Also, it was discovered that there was a significant influence between parental socioeconomic background and the needs of school-age children. It was therefore recommended that, parents must have intimate relationship with their children by meeting their needs, protecting them, and never allow communication gap between them and their children. The government also should assist parents in meeting the needs of the school-age children, especially in the time of crises or emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parents, Schools and Human Capital Differences Across Countries

AbstractThis paper studies the contribution of parental influence in accounting for cross-country gaps in human capital achievements. We argue that the cross-country variation in unobserved parental characteristics is at least as important as the one in commonly used observable proxies of parental socioeconomic background. We infer this through an indirect empirical approach, based on the comparison of the school performance of second-generation immigrants. We document that, within the same host country or even the same school, students whose parents come from high-scoring countries in standardized international tests do better than their peers with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. This finding is not driven by differential selection into emigration. We provide several pieces of evidence that support the transmission of cultural values as a leading channel behind the cross-country variation in the parental component. Unobserved parental characteristics account for about 15% of the cross-country variance in test scores, roughly doubling the overall contribution of parental influence.

Radiation exposure from computerized tomography and risk of childhood leukemia: Finnish register-based case-control study of childhood leukemia (FRECCLE).

The only well-established risk factors for childhood leukemia are high-dose ionizing radiation and Down syndrome. Computerized tomography is a common source of low-dose radiation. In this study, we examined the magnitude of the risk of childhood leukemia after pediatric computed tomography examinations. We evaluated the association of computed tomography scans with risk of childhood leukemia in a nationwide register-based case-control study. Cases (n=1,093) were identified from the population-based Finnish Cancer Registry and three controls, matched by gender and age, were randomly selected for each case from the Population Registry. Information was also obtained on birth weight, maternal smoking, parental socioeconomic status and background gamma radiation. Data on computed tomography scans were collected from the ten largest hospitals in Finland, covering approximately 87% of all pediatric computed tomography scans. Red bone marrow doses were estimated with NCICT dose calculation software. The data were analyzed using exact conditional logistic regression analysis. A total of 15 cases (1.4%) and ten controls (0.3%) had undergone one or more computed tomography scans, excluding a 2-year latency period. For one or more computed tomography scans, we observed an odds ratio of 2.82 (95% confidence interval: 1.05 – 7.56). Cumulative red bone marrow dose from computed tomography scans showed an excess odds ratio of 0.13 (95% confidence interval: 0.02 – 0.26) per mGy. Our results are consistent with the notion that even low doses of ionizing radiation observably increase the risk of childhood leukemia. However, the observed risk estimates are somewhat higher than those in earlier studies, probably due to random error, although unknown predisposing factors cannot be ruled out.