Family matters

The analysis uses a unique set of data matching mothers and their young adult children to study the impact of family background on young peoples educational attainments. The data is derived from the first five years (1991-95) of the British Household Panel Study. Mothers education is found to be a very powerful predictor of their childrens educational attainments, particularly for women. Having spent some time in a single parent family tends to reduce the educational attainments of young men moderately, but the effects on young womens education are small. Part, if not all, of this negative effect of experience in a single parent family reflects fewer economic resources in such families.