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Race and the Income-Achievement Gap

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  • Bacic, Ryan

    (McMaster University)

  • Zheng, Angela

    (McMaster University)

Abstract

A large literature documents a positive correlation between parental income and child test scores. In this paper, we study whether this relationship, the dependence of the cognitive skills of children on the socioeconomic resources of their parents, varies across race. Using education data linked to tax records, we find that the income-achievement gap is small for East Asian children while significantly larger for Indigenous children. School-level factors explains a large portion of the variation in the gap across race. Our results suggest that the large income-achievement gap for Indigenous students may be rooted in inequality in special needs status.

Suggested Citation

  • Bacic, Ryan & Zheng, Angela, 2023. "Race and the Income-Achievement Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 16419, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16419
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    test scores; income-achievement gaps; race;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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