Family structure and the reproduction of inequality: Parents' contribution to children's college costs

John C. Henretta; Douglas A. Wolf; Matthew F. Van Voorhis; Beth J. Soldo

doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.02.008

Family structure and the reproduction of inequality: Parents' contribution to children's college costs

John C. Henretta, Douglas A. Wolf, Matthew F. Van Voorhis, Beth J. Soldo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article examines the role of family structure in the financial support parents provide for their children's college education. Data are from the Health and Retirement Study. We focus on aspects of family structure that affect parental support and estimate shared family variance in investments as well as within-family variation using a multilevel model. Family membership accounts for about 60% of the variance in payment of college costs. Small family size, living with both biological parents (compared to one biological parent and a stepparent), higher parental education, and having older parents are associated with greater parental expenditures.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	876-887
Number of pages	12
Journal	Social Science Research
Volume	41
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.02.008
State	Published - Jul 2012

Keywords

College cost
Family structure
Intergenerational transfers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education
Sociology and Political Science

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10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.02.008

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title = "Family structure and the reproduction of inequality: Parents' contribution to children's college costs",

abstract = "This article examines the role of family structure in the financial support parents provide for their children's college education. Data are from the Health and Retirement Study. We focus on aspects of family structure that affect parental support and estimate shared family variance in investments as well as within-family variation using a multilevel model. Family membership accounts for about 60% of the variance in payment of college costs. Small family size, living with both biological parents (compared to one biological parent and a stepparent), higher parental education, and having older parents are associated with greater parental expenditures.",

keywords = "College cost, Family structure, Intergenerational transfers",

author = "Henretta, {John C.} and Wolf, {Douglas A.} and {Van Voorhis}, {Matthew F.} and Soldo, {Beth J.}",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by NIH/NIA Grants to Henretta (R01 AG 024051) and Soldo (R01 AG 024046). We are grateful to David Autor for supplying the “wage gap” data and to Woody Carlson for supplying the military service data used in this study. ",

year = "2012",

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doi = "10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.02.008",

language = "English (US)",

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pages = "876--887",

journal = "Social Science Research",

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T2 - Parents' contribution to children's college costs

AU - Henretta, John C.

AU - Wolf, Douglas A.

AU - Van Voorhis, Matthew F.

AU - Soldo, Beth J.

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by NIH/NIA Grants to Henretta (R01 AG 024051) and Soldo (R01 AG 024046). We are grateful to David Autor for supplying the “wage gap” data and to Woody Carlson for supplying the military service data used in this study.

PY - 2012/7

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N2 - This article examines the role of family structure in the financial support parents provide for their children's college education. Data are from the Health and Retirement Study. We focus on aspects of family structure that affect parental support and estimate shared family variance in investments as well as within-family variation using a multilevel model. Family membership accounts for about 60% of the variance in payment of college costs. Small family size, living with both biological parents (compared to one biological parent and a stepparent), higher parental education, and having older parents are associated with greater parental expenditures.

AB - This article examines the role of family structure in the financial support parents provide for their children's college education. Data are from the Health and Retirement Study. We focus on aspects of family structure that affect parental support and estimate shared family variance in investments as well as within-family variation using a multilevel model. Family membership accounts for about 60% of the variance in payment of college costs. Small family size, living with both biological parents (compared to one biological parent and a stepparent), higher parental education, and having older parents are associated with greater parental expenditures.

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KW - Intergenerational transfers

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Family structure and the reproduction of inequality: Parents' contribution to children's college costs

Abstract

Keywords

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