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Bridging the gaps: inequalities in children’s educational outcomes in Ireland

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  • David Madden

    (University College Dublin)

Abstract

Recent developments in the inequality literature have stressed the importance of inequality of opportunity as opposed to inequality of outcome. In this paper we investigate the presence of inequality of opportunity in two measures of educational achievement for a representative sample of Irish 9 year olds. Students are partitioned into four groups according to maternal education levels and gaps in outcomes are calculated between each group. Quantile decompositions of the pairwise gaps reveal substantial gaps between groups and that almost half of the gaps can be explained by differences in characteristics between the groups. Detailed decompositions show consistently significant effects for income, number of childrens books in the home and maternal age.

Suggested Citation

  • David Madden, 2018. "Bridging the gaps: inequalities in children’s educational outcomes in Ireland," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(1), pages 103-122, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecin:v:16:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s10888-017-9358-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10888-017-9358-6
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    Cited by:

    1. David Madden, 2022. "The socio‐economic gradient of cognitive test scores: evidence from two cohorts of Irish children," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 265-290, September.
    2. David (David Patrick) Madden, 2020. "The Socioeconomic Gradient of Cognitive Test Scores: Evidence from Two Cohorts of Irish Children," Working Papers 202020, School of Economics, University College Dublin.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Quantile decomposition; Inequality in education;

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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