Parental education and child development: long and short term outcomes

There has been growing evidence of educational attainment of spouses on marriage, dissolution and fertility patterns, economic well-being, family investments in children as well as parenting practises and standards. This paper, using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, examines the relationship between educational homogamy of spouses on child’s outcomes which is measured by college enrollments and college graduation for children between 18-28 years of age. Using variation in the timing of implementation of joint child custody and unilateral divorce laws across the United States, I find that if the spouses are similar in their educational attainment levels, the propensity of their children enrolling in college increases. Thus, suggesting that spouses with similar educational levels are perhaps less likely to face frictions in terms of household management and therefore more likely to strategically invest in their childrens future.