Parents’ education plays key role in performance of their children

Pedro Carneiro, Costas Meghir, Matthias Parey, 8 October 2007

In the last 50 years, there has been a striking increase in inequality in children’s home environments across families where mothers have different levels of education. Given that the tendency is rooted in the experience of each family, it is difficult for the welfare system to import change and direct interventions require the invasion of family autonomy and privacy. The authors of CEPR DP6505 assess an alternative potential policy, which targets future parents while still in their youth by affecting their education before they start forming a family.

In the last 50 years, there has been a striking increase in inequality in children’s home environments across families where mothers have different levels of education. Given that the tendency is rooted in the experience of each family, it is difficult for the welfare system to import change and direct interventions require the invasion of family autonomy and privacy.

Journalists are entitled to free DP downloads on request; please contact pressoffice@cepr.org. To learn more about subscribing to CEPR's Discussion Paper Series, please visit the CEPR website.

URL: http://www.cepr.org/pubs/new-dps/dplist.asp?dpno=6505.asp
Topics: Education, Labour markets
Tags: Child Development, education, family economics, Intergenerational Mobility

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