Why Are Youth from Lower-income Families Less Likely to Attend University? Evidence from Academic Abilities, Parental Influences, and Financial Constraints

Marc Frenette

Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series from Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch

Abstract:

In this study, I use new Canadian data containing detailed information on academic abilities, parental influences, financial constraints, and other socio-economic background characteristics of youth to try to account for the large gap in university attendance across the income distribution. I find that 96% of the total gap in university attendance between youth from the top and bottom income quartiles can be accounted for by differences in observable characteristics. Differences in long-term factors such as standardized test scores in reading obtained at age 15, school marks reported at age 15, parental influences, and high-school quality account for 84% of the gap. In contrast, only 12% of the gap is related to financial constraints. Similar results hold across different income quartiles and when I use standardized test scores in mathematics and science. However, reading scores account for a larger proportion of the gap than other test scores.

Keywords: Children and youth; Education finance; Education; training and learning; Educational attainment; Literacy; Low income families (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-02-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-hrm and nep-sog
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:stc:stcp3e:2007295e

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