Research Paper
The role of parental education and income in children’s aspirations for higher education: a causal estimation
Publication details
Summary
We evaluate the impact of parental education and household income on 10 to 15 year olds’ aspirations for higher education. OLS estimates reveal no maternal education effects but positive paternal education and household income effects. IV estimates of the model, which simultaneously account for endogeneity in parental education and household income, find no significant effects of household income on children’s aspirations for higher education but positive, even though very imprecisely identified, paternal education effects.