IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v46y2022i20.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Variation in the educational consequences of parental death and divorce: The role of family and country characteristics

Author

Listed:
  • Carlijn Bussemakers

    (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen)

  • Gerbert Kraaykamp

    (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen)

  • Jochem Tolsma

    (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen)

Abstract

Objective: Ample research demonstrates that experiencing parental death or divorce harms children’s educational attainment. Less is known about variation herein, both between parental death and divorce and across social contexts. We investigated how family and national cont¬exts moderate the educational consequences of these adverse events. At the family level, we studied whether the educational consequences of parental death and divorce are larger for children of higher-educated parents. At the national level, we investigated the buffering role of welfare benefits as well as the amplifying impact of a selective educational system and the divorce rate. Moreover, we examined the interplay between family and country contexts. Results: Using multilevel regression models with data from 17 countries from the Generations and Gender Survey, we found that parental divorce had a larger impact than parental death. Furthermore, the impact of parental divorce was largest for children of higher-educated parents. Less selective educational systems and provision of single-parent benefits reduced the educational consequences of parental death, specifically for children of lower-educated parents. Conclusions: Our results indicate that although both parental death and divorce harm children’s educational attainment, their impacts differ across family and country contexts. The consequences of divorce strongly depend on the resources available in a family, while the effects of parental death are mitigated by educational and welfare policies. Contribution: Our study underscores the relevance of differentiating between specific adverse events and considering the social context to understand the consequences of adversity for children’s educational attainment.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlijn Bussemakers & Gerbert Kraaykamp & Jochem Tolsma, 2022. "Variation in the educational consequences of parental death and divorce: The role of family and country characteristics," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 46(20), pages 581-618.
  • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:46:y:2022:i:20
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2022.46.20
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol46/20/46-20.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2022.46.20?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harvey Goldstein & Michael J. R. Healy, 1995. "The Graphical Presentation of a Collection of Means," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 158(1), pages 175-177, January.
    2. repec:oup:ecpoli:v:28:y:2013:i:73:p:45-100 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Fiona Steele & Wendy Sigle-Rushton & Øystein Kravdal, 2009. "Consequences of family disruption on children’s educational outcomes in norway," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(3), pages 553-574, August.
    4. Fabrizio Bernardi & Jonas Radl, 2014. "The long-term consequences of parental divorce for children’s educational attainment," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(61), pages 1653-1680.
    5. Giorgio Brunello & Daniele Checchi, 2007. "Does school tracking affect equality of opportunity? New international evidence [‘Educational opportunities and the role of institutions’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 22(52), pages 782-861.
    6. Burger, Kaspar, 2016. "Intergenerational transmission of education in Europe: Do more comprehensive education systems reduce social gradients in student achievement?," MPRA Paper 95310, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    7. Jonas Radl & Leire Salazar & Héctor Cebolla-Boado, 2017. "Does Living in a Fatherless Household Compromise Educational Success? A Comparative Study of Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 217-242, May.
    8. Michela Braga & Daniele Checchi & Elena Meschi, 2013. "Educational policies in a long-run perspective [The governance and performance of universities: evidence from Europe and the U.S]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 28(73), pages 45-100.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Égert, Balázs & Botev, Jarmila & Turner, David, 2020. "The contribution of human capital and its policies to per capita income in Europe and the OECD," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    2. Ralph Hippe & Luisa De Sousa Lobo Borges de Araujo & Patricia Dinis Mota da Costa, 2016. "Equity in Education in Europe," JRC Research Reports JRC104595, Joint Research Centre.
    3. Wiebke Schulz, 2022. "Do the consequences of parental separation for children’s educational success vary by parental education? The role of educational thresholds," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(28), pages 883-918.
    4. Raffaele Guetto & Francesca Zanasi & Maria Carella, 2022. "Non-intact Families and Children’s Educational Outcomes: Comparing Native and Migrant Pupils," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 1065-1094, December.
    5. Elena Meschi & Francesco Scervini, 2014. "A new dataset on educational inequality," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 695-716, September.
    6. Burger, Kaspar, 2019. "The socio-spatial dimension of educational inequality: A comparative European analysis," MPRA Paper 95309, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2019.
    7. Cordero, Jose M. & Polo, Cristina & Santín, Daniel & Simancas, Rosa, 2018. "Efficiency measurement and cross-country differences among schools: A robust conditional nonparametric analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 45-60.
    8. Juho Härkönen & Fabrizio Bernardi & Diederik Boertien, 2017. "Family Dynamics and Child Outcomes: An Overview of Research and Open Questions," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 163-184, May.
    9. Lisa Grazzini, 2016. "The Importance of the Quality of Education: Some Determinants and its Effects on Earning Returns and Economic Growth," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(2), pages 43-82.
    10. Mats Lillehagen & Martin Arstad Isungset, 2020. "New Partner, New Order? Multipartnered Fertility and Birth Order Effects on Educational Achievement," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(5), pages 1625-1646, October.
    11. Kravdal, Øystein, 2016. "New evidence about effects of reproductive variables on child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa," Memorandum 17/2016, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    12. Anna Tegunimataka, 2023. "The Health of Immigrant Youth in Denmark: Examining Immigrant Generations and Origin," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 659-694, June.
    13. Sönke Hendrik Matthewes, 2020. "Better together? Heterogeneous effects of tracking on student achievement," CEP Discussion Papers dp1706.pdf, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    14. Ludger Woessmann, 2009. "International Evidence on School Tracking: A Review," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 7(01), pages 26-34, April.
    15. Krause-Pilatus, Annabelle & Schüller, Simone, 2014. "Evidence and Persistence of Education Inequality in an Early-Tracking System: The German Case," IZA Discussion Papers 8545, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Magali Jaoul-Grammare & Brice Magdalou, 2013. "Opportunities in Higher Education: An Application to France," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 111-112, pages 295-325.
    17. Canaan, Serena & Mouganie, Pierre & Zhang, Peng, 2022. "The Long-Run Educational Benefits of High-Achieving Classrooms," IZA Discussion Papers 15039, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Gruber, Lloyd & Kosack, Stephen, 2014. "The tertiary tilt: education and inequality in the developing world," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 54202, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Francisco H. G. Ferreira & Jérémie Gignoux, 2014. "The Measurement of Educational Inequality: Achievement and Opportunity," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 28(2), pages 210-246.
    20. Torben M. Andersen & Giuseppe Bertola & John Driffill & Harold James & Hans-Werner Sinn & Jan-Egbert Sturm & Branko Uroševic, 2016. "Chapter 3: Tuning Secondary Education," EEAG Report on the European Economy, CESifo, vol. 0, pages 70-84, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    parental divorce; educational attainment; tracking; welfare state; divorce rate; parental death; parental resources; educational system;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:46:y:2022:i:20. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.