Explaining the impact of family structure during adolescence on adult educational attainment: A longitudinal study

Abstract

We estimated a structural equation model that specifies the intervening processes accounting for the modest but statistically significant relationship between family structure (intact family) and educational attainment. Using data from a panel (N = 3,322) tested in the seventh grade, when the subjects were in their twenties, and when the subjects were in their mid-thirties, we observed the mediating processes in the relationship between intact family and educational attainment. Growing up in intact families was associated with a better financial situation in the parental home and a more positive early school experience, which led to a later entry into adult roles of labor force participation and marriage/cohabitation, and to continuation of post-secondary education. These intervening processes together accounted for the effects of intact family on higher educational attainment in middle adulthood.