Changes in Educational Inequality

Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin ()

The Centre for Market and Public Organisation from Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK

Abstract: This paper looks at changes over time in the extent of educational inequality - defined as educational attainment by people from higher relative to lower income backgrounds. It draws upon household and longitudinal data sources in both the UK and US to look at this highly policy relevant question. The data shows a sharp rise in educational inequality over time in the UK, but with the stage of the education sequence mattering. In particular the rapid expansion of higher education seen in the recent past in the UK disproportionately benefited children from relatively affluent backgrounds. The international comparisons show different patterns of change in the association between education and family income over time in the UK relative to the US. We link these findings on changes in educational inequality to the literature on intergenerational mobility, arguing that international differences in educational systems matter for the extent of economic and social mobility across generations.

Keywords: education; family income; education sequences; education systems; intergenerational mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab, nep-mfd and nep-ure
Date: 2003-06
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bri:cmpowp:03/079

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