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The Effect of Family Income during Childhood on Later-life Attainment: Evidence from Germany

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  • Stephen P. Jenkins
  • Christian Schluter

Abstract

We examine the impact of family income during childhood on the type of secondary school that German children attend, a good indicator of their lifetime socioeconomic attainment. By contrast with several US child outcome studies, we find that late-childhood income is a more important determinant of outcomes than early-childhood income, and income effects are not greater for poor households compared to rich households, other things equal. The income effects are small for native-born German children and non-existent for children from guestworker households. Income effects are also small relative to the impact of differences in parental educational qualifications or institutional factors related to the federal state of residence.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen P. Jenkins & Christian Schluter, 2002. "The Effect of Family Income during Childhood on Later-life Attainment: Evidence from Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 317, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp317
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    child poverty; educational achievement; schooling; family background;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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