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Effects of single parenthood on educational aspiration and student disengagement in Korea

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  • Hyunjoon Park

    (University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

The recent rapid increase in divorce, along with its distinctive cultural and welfare environments for single-parent families, makes Korea an interesting case for examining effects of single parenthood on children’s education. Using data from Korean 9th and 12th graders, I compare the levels of educational aspiration and student disengagement between students with two parents and those with a single parent, distinguishing divorced single fathers, widowed single fathers, divorced single mothers, and widowed single mothers. Logistic regression analyses show that students with a divorced single parent, regardless of gender of the parent, are much less likely to aspire to four-year university education and more likely to be disengaged than their counterparts with two parents. The effects of widowhood disappear once control variables are held constant. Lower household income among single-parent families explains in part the poorer educational outcomes of their children. Parent-child interaction is another important mediating factor for the effect of single fatherhood but not for single motherhood. The relevance of the extended family system and distinctive features of post-divorce living arrangements in Korea is discussed to understand the effects of single parenthood.

Suggested Citation

  • Hyunjoon Park, 2008. "Effects of single parenthood on educational aspiration and student disengagement in Korea," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 18(13), pages 377-408.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:18:y:2008:i:13
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2008.18.13
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Benta A. Abuya & Maurice Mutisya & Elijah O. Onsomu & Moses Ngware & Moses Oketch, 2019. "Family Structure and Child Educational Attainment in the Slums of Nairobi, Kenya," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(2), pages 21582440198, June.
    2. Jarvis, Jonathan A. & Read, Amy R. & Dufur, Mikaela J. & Pribesh, Shana, 2022. "Impacts of family structure on shadow education and educational achievement among South Korean youth," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    3. Yen-hsin Alice Cheng & Fen-chieh Felice Wu, 2016. "Going it alone and adrift: the socioeconomic profile and parental involvement of single-father and single-mother families in post-industrial Taiwan," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 147-172, June.
    4. Duoduo Xu & Jaap Dronkers & Zhuoni Zhang & Xiaogang Wu, 2018. "Not a zero-sum game: Migration and child well-being in contemporary China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(26), pages 691-726.
    5. Piriya Pholphirul & Siwat Teimtad, 2018. "Living with parents and educational outcomes in developing countries: empirical evidence from PISA Thailand," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 87-105, March.
    6. Mikaela J. Dufur & Hyeyoung Woo, 2023. "Associations between Gendered Family Structures and Adolescent Stress, Loneliness, and Sadness in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-24, February.
    7. Jonathan A. Jarvis & Ashley Larsen Gibby & Mikaela J. Dufur & Shana Pribesh, 2020. "Family Structure and Child Well-Being in a Non-western Context: The Role of Parent–Child Relations and Parental Conflict in South Korea," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(3), pages 439-464, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    divorce; Korea; single-parent families; educational aspiration; school disengagement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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