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Cited by 86Intergenerational and Educational Inequality StudiesSchool Choice and PerformanceIncome, Poverty, and Inequality

Increasing Inequality in Parent Incomes and Children’s Schooling

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Duncan, Greg J., Kalil, Ariel, Ziol-Guest, Kathleen M.·2017·Demography
DOI 10.1007/s13524-017-0600-4PMC PMC5693619
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Abstract

Income inequality and the achievement test score gap between high- and low-income children increased dramatically in the United States beginning in the 1970s. This article investigates the demographic (family income, mother’s education, family size, two-parent family structure, and age of mother at birth) underpinnings of the growing income-based gap in schooling using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Across 31 cohorts, we find that increases in the income gap between high- and low-income children account for approximately three-quarters of the increasing gap in completed schooling, one-half of the gap in college attendance, and one-fifth of the gap in college graduation. We find no consistent evidence of increases in the estimated associations between parental income and children’s completed schooling. Increasing gaps in the two-parent family structures of high- and low-income families accounted for relatively little of the schooling gap because our estimates of the (regression-adjusted) associations between family structure and schooling were surprisingly small for much of our accounting period. On the other hand, increasing gaps in mother’s age at the time of birth accounts for a substantial portion of the increasing schooling gap: mother’s age is consistently predictive of children’s completed schooling, and the maternal age gap for children born into low- and high-income families increased considerably over the period.

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  • Duncan, Kalil, and Ziol-Guest (2017) show that in the United States, the gap in educational levels between children from richer and poorer families grew from the 1970s to the 2000s, and argue that most of this rise can be attributed to increasing income inequality.

    “For example, Duncan, Kalil, and Ziol-Guest (2017) show that in the United States, the gap in educational levels between children from richer and poorer families grew from the 1970s to the 2000s, and argue that most of this rise can be attributed to increasing income inequality.”

    From Educational Inequality* (2022) · cites this paper as Duncan, Kalil, and Ziol-Guest (2017)

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Bertrand M Pan J 2013 The trouble with boys: Social influences and the gender gap in disruptive behavior American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 5 32 64
  2. Mallar C 1977 The educational and labor supply responses of young adults on the Urban Graduated Work Incentive Experiment Watts HW Rees A The New Jersey Income Maintenance Experiment: Expenditures, health, and social behavior; and the quality of the evidence III 163 184 New York, NY Academic Press
  3. Putnam RD Frederick CB Snellman K 2012 Growing class gaps in social connectedness among American youth Unpublished paper Cambridge, MA Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

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Authors
Duncan, G. J., Kalil, A., & Ziol-Guest, K. M.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
  • University of Chicago (US)
  • Department of Applied Statistics, Social Science, and Humanities, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
Corresponding author
Duncan, Greg J.
ORCID
Venue
Demography
Publisher
Duke University Press
Published
2017-08-01
Volume
54
Issue
5
Pages
1603-1626
ISSN
  • 0070-3370 (ISSN-L)
  • 1533-7790
DOI
10.1007/s13524-017-0600-4
PMC
PMC5693619
OpenAlex
W627802920
Cited by
85
References
55
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
FWCI
20.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (unspecified)
Locations
  • Demography (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Russell Sage Foundation
  • Spencer Foundation
  • Sage Foundation
  • Yale University
  • Princeton University
  • Harvard University
  • University of California, Los Angeles
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P01HD065704, R01HD069609)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
  • Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Income, Poverty, and Inequality
Keywords
income inequality, educational attainment gap, educational achievement gap, parental income, maternal education, family structure, two-parent families, college attendance, college graduation, Panel Study of Income Dynamics, cohort trends
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Educational Status, Family Characteristics, Female, Humans, Income, Male, Maternal Age, Mothers, Parents, Poverty, Regression Analysis, Socioeconomic Factors, United States, Cohort Studies, Young Adult

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