Parents' socioeconomic status and children's academic ... - Nova

Foreword
This paper is a part of the longitudinal project ‘Children’s level of living –
the impact of family incomes’ (Barns levekår – betydningen av familiens
inntekt)’, conducted by the Norwegian Social Research Institute (NOVA)
and financed by The Norwegian Women's Public Health Association
(Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening ) (NKS). The main sample was drawn
from a population of children in families who in 2000 had incomes below 60
per cent of the median income. In this paper, we primarily utilize the data
collected in 2006 to explore the correlation between parental socioeconomic
status and children’s prospective social status. Proxies for parental socioeconomic
status are their education level, employment and immigration
status, and for the children, their academic performance in three central
subjects. Furthermore, the paper studies the domestic assistance with homework
as a channel for impact of parental socioeconomic status on children’s
academics performance. Other factors considered in this paper are gender
and family structure. The effect of family structure is tested for, with
categories for those living with lone mothers, lone fathers, parents and
stepparents. Statistical methods employed in this paper are bivariate and
multivariate methods.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge Dr. Viggo Nordvik, senior
researcher at NOVA, for supervision of this paper.
NOVA, 2009
Jamila Elhag Hassan
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