Effects of parental structure and resources on children’s educational outcomes at age fifteen using Dutch register data (1999-2008)

Ruben I. van Gaalen, Statistics Netherlands (CBS)
Lenny Stoeldraijer, Statistics Netherlands

Using ten cohorts from the Social Statistical Database (SSB) in the Netherlands, an overview of the parental structure of all fifteen year old children living in the Netherlands in the period 1999-2008 is given. The percentage of 15-year-olds who live with their parents in a family has decreased in 10 years time from over 78 to 74 percent. Intact families are more common in the highest two quintiles of the income of the father and the lowest two quintiles of the mother. Children, who live with parents of relatively old age, more often live in intact families. Furthermore, the relationship between parental structure and family resources on the one hand and educational attainment on the other hand is analysed. A divorce means a loss of parental resources, while it also may represent a buffer for the adverse effects of instability on the development of minor children. The development opportunities of children of divorced parents are on average a little more limited as the father earned much (loss), while it is relatively strongly encouraged by a mother earning much (buffer). We see further that having a young father or mother is negatively related to the educational opportunities of children. It also holds that a relatively old mother is positively related to the educational attainment.