Assistance to the Family and the College Achievement of Young Adults

Abstract

This investigation examined the assistance that approximately 630 college—bound young adults from Asian, Latin American, and European backgrounds provided to their families and the implications of that assistance for their postsecondary educational progress. Students from Filipino and Latin American backgrounds spent more hours helping their parents and siblings on a daily basis as compared to their peers from East Asian and European backgrounds. Those from Latin American backgrounds provided financial support to their families at a higher rate than those from East Asian and European backgrounds, and males provided more financial support than females. Young adults who provided daily and financial assistance to their families were less likely to pursue or obtain bachelor’s degrees and more likely to pursue or obtain an associate’s degrees. This association did not vary across subgroups of adolescents and group differences in family assistance did not account for group differences in postsecondary degree persistence.