Parental separation and children’s education – changes over time?

Abstract

<p>Objective and background<br>The association between parental separation and children’s education has been widely studied,<br>but mostly at a single time point, for one educational outcome at a time and for marital<br>dissolution only. We examine whether the (generally negative) association has changed across<br>cohorts for several educational outcomes and whether the association differs by parental union<br>type (marriage, cohabitation) and family background (parental education). Due to high rates of<br>separation, the association with children’s education could have weakened over time.<br></p><p><br>Methods<br>We use Finnish total population register data. We focus on child cohorts born between 1987<br>and 2003 (N=1,004,823) and analyse grade point averages, secondary education and tertiary<br>education using linear probability models with standard errors clustered within families.<br></p><p><br>Results and conclusion<br>The association between parental separation and educational achievement is negative and has<br>remained similar across the birth cohorts. Differences according to parental union type and<br>socioeconomic family background are small and do not exhibit changes over time. The stability<br>of the association over time suggests that the consequences of parental separation on children’s<br>education have not changed, even though attitudes towards separation may have changed.<br></p>