Uneven pathways: three novel mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of (dis)advantages

Thesis

This thesis advances the understanding of the socioeconomic inequalities in children’s development by examining three novel mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of (dis)advantages. These channels are founded on a dynamic understanding of the process of social reproduction. Each one is illustrated with reference to the cases of the UK or the US.

The first empirical chapter examines how parents respond to their children’s early physical health problems and delves into the enduring consequences of these parental responses. Using twins fixed effects models, the findings reveal that, on average, parents exhibit negative responses when their children face early health problems, and that these responses have a lasting negative impact on the children’s educational achievements. Surprisingly, the effect of health problems on parental responses does not vary across socioeconomic groups. The second study examines whether mothers adapt their level of cognitive stimulation as a response to children’s developmental declines, and whether this is a socially stratified process. The results obtained from a series of two-way fixed effects and fixed effects counterfactual models indicate that, on average, mothers respond to their children’s skills declines by reducing their cognitive stimulation. This pattern is especially pronounced within impoverished families or those with low educational levels. In the final empirical chapter of this thesis, attention shifts to exploring whether mothers’ occupation-specific skills influence the process of development of their children. Exploiting changes in mothers’ jobs during their children’s upbringing, the results suggest that mothers’ mathematical occupation-specific skills have a positive effect on children’s mathematical ability and that high-SES children especially benefit from the skills upgrading of their mothers.

This dissertation discusses the substantive implications of each of these mechanisms and tests them empirically. It is only by disentangling the complex combination of channels through which inequality is transmitted across generations that appropriate policy responses can be elaborated.

Authors: García Sierra, A

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-qyazdvvrr
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: inequality; social stratification; intergenerational transmission of advantage; child development
• Subjects: Sociology