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Inequalities in Educational Outcomes: How Important Is the Family?

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  • Julia Bredtmann
  • Nina Smith

Abstract

Using rich administrative and longitudinal survey data for Denmark, we investigate sibling correlations in educational outcomes, which serve as a broad measure of the importance of family and community background. We find sibling correlations of up to 0.38, suggesting that more than a third of the variation in educational achievement can be explained by family background. Our results further reveal that parents’ socio‐economic background can account for a large part of the sibling correlation. Other family characteristics such as family structure, social problems and parents’ educational preferences only contribute to explaining sibling similarities at lower levels of the educational distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Bredtmann & Nina Smith, 2018. "Inequalities in Educational Outcomes: How Important Is the Family?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 80(6), pages 1117-1144, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:obuest:v:80:y:2018:i:6:p:1117-1144
    DOI: 10.1111/obes.12258
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    Cited by:

    1. Carsten Andersen, 2019. "Intergenerational Health Mobility: Evidence from Danish Registers," Economics Working Papers 2019-04, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    2. Shukla, Prakash Kumar & Reddy A, Bheemeshwar & Kumar, Dushyant, 2024. "Class in caste: Inequalities in human capital investments in children in India," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    3. Bühler Jonas & Erhardt Tamara & Häner-Müller Melanie & Schaltegger Christoph A., 2025. "Ist Blut dicker als Wasser? Wie die Familie den sozialen Aufstieg beeinflusst," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 26(1), pages 62-79.
    4. Mohammad H. Sepahvand & Roujman Shahbazian, 2021. "Sibling correlation in risk attitudes: evidence from Burkina Faso," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(1), pages 45-72, March.
    5. Carsten Andersen, 2021. "Intergenerational health mobility: Evidence from Danish registers," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(12), pages 3186-3202, December.
    6. Bühler, Jonas & Schaltegger, Christoph A. & Häner, Melanie, 2024. "Social Persistence and its drivers - An Analysis of Sibling Correlation in Switzerland," VfS Annual Conference 2024 (Berlin): Upcoming Labor Market Challenges 302378, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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