Single-Parenting “Pathology” not Required: Differences in Time and Money Explain Educational Achievement Gaps

PWP-CCPR-2014-006

Abstract

Research in the United States has shown that children growing up in two-parent households do better than those in single-parent households on a number of outcomes, educational achievement in particular. Cross national studies have also documented consistent achievement gaps across family structures. However, cross national studies aimed at measuring educational outcomes in a comparative manner in a large number of countries have serious limitations with respect to the measurement of parental background. Key characteristics of the home environment, such as household income, may not be assessed and non-resident parents ignored altogether. We show that even a very crude imputation method for assigning values to key missing variables may substantially alter cross-national analyses. Specifically, adding imputed values for time spent with both parents and household income entirely accounts for the achievement gap with children from two-parent households for children from single-parent households. However, a significant gap remains for children from step-parent households.