The Effects of Grandparents on Children’s Schooling: Evidence From Rural China
Open accessAbstract
The issue of whether the social class of grandparents affects grandchildren’s socioeconomic outcomes net of the characteristics of the middle generation is much debated in the social mobility literature. Using data from the 2002 Chinese Household Income Project, we investigate the direct effects of grandparents on grandchildren’s educational attainment in rural China. We find that the influence of grandparents is contingent on living arrangements. Although the educational level of coresident grandparents directly affects the educational attainment of their grandchildren, with an effect size similar to that of parental education, the education of noncoresident and deceased grandparents does not have any effect. These findings suggest that grandparents can directly affect grandchildren’s educational outcomes through sociopsychological pathways. Our study not only adds an important case study to the literature but also sheds new light on theoretical interpretations of grandparent effects when they are found.
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A direct effect of grandparents on their grandchildren is possible through means that do not require contact, such as financial transfers.
“However, there are exceptions (Zeng and Xie 2014), and a direct effect of grandparents on their grandchildren is possible through means that do not require contact, such as financial transfers (Hällsten and Pfeffer 2017).”
From Educational Inequality* (2022) · cites this paper as Zeng and Xie 2014
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“However, there are exceptions (Zeng and Xie, 2014), and a direct effect of grandparents on their grandchildren is possible through means that do not require contact, such as financial transfers (H€allsten and Pfeffer, 2017).”
Background
- Authors
- Zeng, Z., & Xie, Y.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Peking University (CN)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Demography
- Publisher
- Duke University Press
- Published
- 2014-02-28
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 599-617
- ISSN
- 0070-3370 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-7790
- PMC
- PMC4026185
- OpenAlex
- W2113445824
- Cited by
- 272
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 53.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Demography (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Michigan (R24HD041028)
- Peking University
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24HD041028)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Keywords
- intergenerational transmission, educational attainment, social mobility, living arrangements, rural China, socioeconomic outcomes, Chinese Household Income Project
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, China, Cross-Sectional Studies, Educational Status, Family Characteristics, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Rural Population, Social Class, Intergenerational Relations
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