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Does parental employment affect children's educational attainment?

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  • Schildberg-Hoerisch, Hannah

Abstract

This paper analyzes whether there exists a causal relationship between parental employment and children's educational attainment. We address potential endogeneity problems due to (i) selection of parents in the labor market by estimating a model on sibling differences and (ii) reverse causality by focusing on parents’ employment when children are aged 0–3. We use data from the German Socioeconomic Panel that provide information on household income, parental employment, and time spent with child care. Our approach disentangles income and time effects of parental employment. Overall, we find little support that parental employment affects children's educational attainment. Controlling for household income, we can rule out that having a mother who works one hour more per week lowers the probability of high secondary track attendance by more than 0.1%.

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  • Schildberg-Hoerisch, Hannah, 2011. "Does parental employment affect children's educational attainment?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1456-1467.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:30:y:2011:i:6:p:1456-1467
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2011.07.013
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    Cited by:

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    2. Brehm, Johannes & Pestel, Nico & Schaffner, Sandra & Schmitz, Laura, 2022. "From low emission zone to academic track: Environmental policy effects on educational achievement in elementary school," Ruhr Economic Papers 980, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    3. Strain, Michael R., 2013. "Single-sex classes & student outcomes: Evidence from North Carolina," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 73-87.
    4. Felfe, Christina & Hsin, Amy, 2012. "Maternal work conditions and child development," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1037-1057.
    5. Wölfel, Oliver & Heineck, Guido, 2012. "Parental risk attitudes and children's secondary school track choice," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 727-743.
    6. Liu Qian & Skans Oskar Nordstrom, 2010. "The Duration of Paid Parental Leave and Children's Scholastic Performance," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-35, January.
    7. Irene Mosca & Vincent O'Sullivan & Robert E Wright, 2017. "Maternal employment and child outcomes: evidence from the Irish marriage bar," Working Papers 1709, University of Strathclyde Business School, Department of Economics.
    8. Evangelia Papapetrou & Pinelopi Tsalaporta, 2017. "Is there a case for intergenerational transmission of female labour force participation and educational attainment? Evidence from Greece during the crisis," Working Papers 223, Bank of Greece.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational economics; Human capital; Resource allocation; School choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C20 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - General
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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