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Is Children’s Academic Performance Valuable to Parents? Linking Children’s Effort Vs. Results and Fathers’ Vs. Mothers’ Subjective Well-Being

Author

Listed:
  • Yuying Tong

    (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

  • Jenny Xin Li

    (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

  • Binbin Shu

    (Shenzhen University)

Abstract

In today’s modern society, the economic value of children to parents has generally decreased. Instead, given the expansion of education and emphasis on educational success, the cost of raising children has increased considerably. To increase their children’s chances for upward social mobility, parents are investing much more in children’s education than before. However, although it is widely known that having school-aged children increases parental anxiety, little is known about how children’s academic performance is associated with parental psychological well-being. Using data from the 2010 and 2012 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), we examine how children’s academic performance is linked to parental subjective well-being, which is measured by life satisfaction and depression symptoms. We find that both children’s learning effort and academic results are significantly associated with parental well-being when examining them separately, but the statistical significance of effort disappears when we put both in the depression model, despite that such offset effect is not obvious in the life satisfaction model. This indicates that Chinese parents tend to value the results more than the effort. The analysis by parental gender further shows that both effort and academic results are associated with mothers’ well-being, but for fathers, only results matter. Our study adds to the literature on how school-aged children’s academic performance may be associated with middle-aged parents’ well-being, extending the understanding of the value of children to parents.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuying Tong & Jenny Xin Li & Binbin Shu, 2021. "Is Children’s Academic Performance Valuable to Parents? Linking Children’s Effort Vs. Results and Fathers’ Vs. Mothers’ Subjective Well-Being," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(2), pages 583-605, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:14:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s12187-020-09763-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-020-09763-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Debra Friedman & Michael Hechter & Satoshi Kanazawa, 1994. "A theory of the value of children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(3), pages 375-401, August.
    2. Gary S. Becker, 1960. "An Economic Analysis of Fertility," NBER Chapters, in: Demographic and Economic Change in Developed Countries, pages 209-240, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Karen L. Fingerman & Yen-Pi Cheng & Kira Birditt & Steven Zarit, 2012. "Only as Happy as the Least Happy Child: Multiple Grown Children's Problems and Successes and Middle-aged Parents' Well-being," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 67(2), pages 184-193.
    4. Suzanne Bianchi, 2000. "Maternal employment and time with children: Dramatic change or surprising continuity?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(4), pages 401-414, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nadezhda V. Baryshnikova & Florian Ploeckl & Nasantogtokh Yunren, 2023. "Does Unsatisfactory Subjective Well‐Being of School Children Decrease their Cognitive Skill Development?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 99(S1), pages 50-66, December.

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