scholarly journals Socioeconomic Inequality in Children’s Achievement from Infancy to Adolescence: The Case of Germany

Social Forces ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Skopek ◽  
Giampiero Passaretta
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Socioeconomic Inequality ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Achievement Gaps ◽  
Western World ◽  
Secondary Schooling ◽  
Family Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Children's Achievement ◽  
School Careers

Abstract When in children’s lives do gaps by family socioeconomic status (SES) in cognitive skills emerge, how large are they before children enter school, and how do they develop over schooling? We study the evolution of achievement gaps by parental education from birth to adolescence in Germany. We exploit data from fifty-seven tests taken from the age of seven months to sixteen years by the National Educational Panel Study. Because Germany has one of the most stratified education systems in the Western World, we hypothesized that achievement gaps will grow particularly during tracked secondary schooling. However, our findings show that SES gaps emerge and expand long before children enter school and then remain stable throughout their school careers. Because gaps stop growing, we tentatively conclude that schooling decreases inequality in learning by family SES.

Socio-Economic Family Background and Adult Children’s Health in Germany: The Role of Intergenerational Transmission of Education

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Arránz Becker ◽  
Katharina Loter
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Children's Health ◽  
Children’S Health ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Intergenerational Transmission Of Education

Abstract This study examines consequences of parental education for adult children’s physical and mental health using panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel study. Based on random-effects growth curve models (N = 15,144 West German respondents born between 1925 and 1998 aged 18–80), we estimate gender-, age-, and cohort-specific trajectories of physical and mental health components of the SF-12 questionnaire for low and high parental education measured biennially from 2002 to 2018. Findings suggest more persistent effects of parental education on physical than mental health. In particular, both daughters and sons of the lower educated group of parents (with neither parent qualified for university) exhibit markedly poorer physical health over the whole life course and worse mental health in mid-life and later life than those of higher educated parents. Thus, children’s health gradients conditional on parental education tend to widen with increasing age. Once children’s educational attainment is held constant, effects of parental education on children’s health mostly vanish. This suggests that in the strongly stratified West German context with its rather low social mobility, intergenerational transmission of education, which, according to our analyses, has been declining among younger cohorts, contributes to cementing long-term health inequalities across the life course.

scholarly journals Something Good Out of the Bad Times? The Impacts of Reduced Opportunity Costs on the Intergenerational Inequalities in College Enrollment

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heta Pöyliö
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
College Enrollment ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Opportunity Costs ◽  
Parental Income ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
School Graduation ◽  
Educational Decision Making

This research examines whether the reduced opportunity costs observed during the Great Recession resulted in changing socioeconomic inequalities in college enrollment. The results of the multilevel logistic regression analyses of American high school graduation cohorts 2003–2013 with data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics indicate that educational decision-making changed during the recession. The association between parental education and college enrollment weakened during the recession for both men and women, but the changes in the association between parental income and enrollment contrasted by gender. While the income differences in college enrollment were reduced among female high school graduates, they increased among male graduates. The opportunity costs at the time of graduation were linked with the decreasing influence of parental income and the increasing influence of parental education during the recession.

scholarly journals Mental Rotation in American Children: Diminished Returns of Parental Education in Black Families

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-141
Author(s):  
Shervin Assari
Keyword(s):  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Efficiency Score ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
White Children ◽  
Family Socioeconomic Status ◽  
White Families ◽  
American Children

Background: While parental education and family socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with an increase in children’s cognitive functioning, and less is known about racial variation in these effects. Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDRs) suggest that, under racism and social stratification, family SES and particularly parental education show weaker effects on children’s tangible outcomes for marginalized, racialized, and minoritized families, particularly Blacks, compared to Whites. Aim: We conducted this study to compare the effect of parental education on children’s mental rotation abilities, as an important aspect of cognitive function, by race. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 11,135 9–10-year-old American children. Data came from baseline of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The independent variable was parental education. The dependent variable, mental rotation, was measured by the Little Man Task. Ethnicity, gender, age, marital status, and household income were the covariates. Results: Parental education was positively associated with mental rotation. However, parental education showed a weaker association with mental rotation in Black than in White families. This was documented by a significant interaction between race and parental education on children’s efficiency score. Conclusion: Parental education shows a weaker correlation with mental rotation of Black rather than White children, which is probably because of racism, social stratification, and discrimination. This finding is in line with the MDRs phenomenon and suggests that marginalization and racism may interfere with the influences of parental assets and resources and Black American children’s development.

Relationship between Family Socioeconomic Status and Cognitive/Affective Responses to the Threat of Nuclear War

1986 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott B. Hamilton ◽  
Thomas A. Knox ◽  
William G. Keilin
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Nuclear War ◽  
Nuclear Threat ◽  
Family Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
College Age ◽  
Life Impact ◽  
Cognitive Rumination

The current study involved 214 families (i.e., mother, father, and a college-age child), who were divided into high and low socioeconomic status groups on the basis of parental education and income. Dependent measures included 16 Likert-type items which provided a broad assessment of nuclear war-related thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. Results indicated that families high in socioeconomic status were more worried about nuclear war, more confident in their ability to help reduce the nuclear threat, and more supportive of proposals for arms reduction. However, groups did not differ on several other important measures (e.g., over-all life impact resulting from the nuclear threat), and the absolute levels of worry and cognitive rumination were relatively low.

scholarly journals Subjective Family Socioeconomic Status and Peer Relationships: Mediating Roles of Self-Esteem and Perceived Stress

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Bai ◽  
Liping Jiang ◽  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Ting Wu ◽  
Song Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Mediating Effects ◽  
Family Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Training Interventions ◽  
Contrast Analysis

This study explored the relationships between subjective family socioeconomic status (FSES), self-esteem, perceived stress, and perceived peer relationships among Chinese adolescents. A total of 1,353 adolescents (age range: 15–19 years) were asked to complete a questionnaire. Mediation analysis revealed that subjective FSES influenced perceived peer relationships in three ways: first, through the mediating effect of perceived stress; second, through the mediating effect of self-esteem; and third, through the serial mediating effects of perceived stress and self-esteem. The results remained significant after controlling for parental education. In addition, a contrast analysis showed no significant differences in the mediating effects of self-esteem and perceived stress. Thus, we suggest that steps should be taken to improve adolescents' self-esteem and reduce their stress through training interventions and preventive measures, to help them improve their perceived peer relationships and reduce adverse effects associated with low subjective FSES.

scholarly journals Achievement Gaps by Parental Income and Education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Marie Jorde Sandsør ◽  
Henrik Daae Zachrisson ◽  
Lynn A. Karoly
Keyword(s):  
Test Scores ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Family Background ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Achievement Gaps ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Low Socioeconomic ◽  
Parental Income ◽  
Standard Deviations

Socioeconomic achievement gaps measure the disparity in test scores between students from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds, commonly measured as a combination of parental income, education and occupation. However, educational data often limits the ability to create such measures of family background and link them to student test scores, leading researchers to arrive at different conclusions about levels and trends depending on the SES measure and estimation method. In this paper we disentangle the importance of each by using register data from Norway with precise measures of parental income and education. We show that results crucially depend on the SES measure, as parental income and education are not interchangeable measures of socioeconomic background. Achievement gaps by parental income in Norway are large, 0.55-0.93 standard deviations, and have increased by about 10% of a standard deviation over the 11-year time period we study, whereas achievement gaps by parental education are even larger, 0.86-1.15 standard deviations, but remain stable over the same period. Accounting for compositional changes in immigration decreases the magnitude of the gaps, whether measured by parental income or education, while trends remain the same.

scholarly journals The Surplus Effect in Adaptive Behaviour in Down Syndrome: What Can Promote It?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1188
Author(s):  
Anastasia Dressler ◽  
Valetina Perelli ◽  
Margherita Bozza ◽  
Stefania Bargagna ◽  
Franz Benninger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Maternal Education ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Adaptive Skills ◽  
Adaptive Behaviour ◽  
Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales ◽  
Inclusive Schooling ◽  
The Impact

Background: In Down syndrome (DS), adaptive behaviour often shows a “surplus effect” (i.e., higher adaptive abilities than expected from cognitive skills). As inclusive schooling has become mandatory in Italy, we studied the impact of school inclusion on the surplus effect of adaptive behaviour in adult DS, considering potential confounding factors such as parental education. Methods: All consecutive DS individuals from three different sites were queried prospectively regarding type of schooling (inclusive and non-inclusive). Demographic data were documented; cognitive abilities and adaptive behaviour were assessed (Coloured Progressive Matrices and Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales). The aim was to establish the presence of a surplus effect in adaptive behaviour, primarily in the overall level and secondarily in the main domains and subdomains. A multivariable-adjusted logistic regression model was used for the association of schooling, and parental education. Results: The majority (65%) showed a surplus effect in adaptive behaviour and had attended inclusive schools (85%). Higher adaptive skills as well as early and longer functional treatment programmes were more readily available for younger individuals. In the group of inclusive schooling, the surplus effect on overall adaptive behaviour was present in 70% as opposed to 38% in the group without inclusive schooling, significant when adjusted for gender and maternal education. This was also observed in socialisation, written, and community, and after adjustment in playing and leisure time. Conclusions: Adaptive behaviour showed a surplus effect in the majority of DS adults, even more so after inclusive schooling. Younger adults showed higher adaptive skills. Moreover, female gender and higher maternal educational level significantly enhanced this surplus effect.

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