Gender Gaps in the Effects of Childhood Family Environment: Do They Persist into Adulthood?

47 Pages Posted: 31 Oct 2016

See all articles by Anne Brenøe

Anne Brenøe

University of Copenhagen - Department of Economics

Shelly J. Lundberg

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; University of Bergen - Department of Economics

Abstract

We examine the differential effects of family disadvantage on the education and adult labor market outcomes of men and women using high-quality administrative data on the entire population of Denmark born between 1966 and 1995. We link parental education and family structure during childhood to male-female and brother-sister differences in teenage outcomes, educational attainment, and adult earnings and employment. Our results are consistent with U.S. findings that boys benefit more from an advantageous family environment than do girls in terms of the behavior and grade-school outcomes. Father's education, which has not been examined in previous studies, is particularly important for sons. However, we find a very different pattern of parental influence on adult outcomes. The gender gaps in educational attainment, employment, and earnings are increasing in maternal education, benefiting daughters. Paternal education decreases the gender gaps in educational attainment (favoring sons) and labor market outcomes (favoring daughters). We conclude that differences in the behavior of school-aged boys and girls are a poor proxy for differences in skills that drive longer-term outcomes.

Keywords: education, family structure, parental education, gender gap, labor market outcomes

JEL Classification: I20, J1, J2, J3

Suggested Citation

Brenøe, Anne and Lundberg, Shelly J., Gender Gaps in the Effects of Childhood Family Environment: Do They Persist into Adulthood?. IZA Discussion Paper No. 10313, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2861098 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2861098

Anne Brenøe (Contact Author)

University of Copenhagen - Department of Economics ( email )

Øster Farimagsgade 5
Bygning 26
1353 Copenhagen K.
Denmark

Shelly J. Lundberg

University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) ( email )

South Hall 5504
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

University of Bergen - Department of Economics ( email )

Fosswinckelsgt. 6
N-5007 Bergen, 5007
Norway

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