Family Structure and Educational Progress: A Macro-Level Gendered Perspective Across Low- and Lower-Middle Income Countries
Although children frequently have compromised educational outcomes if they have undergone parental union transitions or live in single parent homes, the effect of the retreat from marriage on the educational progress of societies has not been evaluated. Dr. DeRose's project aims for development of an R03 application that will investigate how children’s living arrangements in low- and lower-middle income countries condition trajectories of educational progress in the society as a whole. The aims are:
- To evaluate whether progress toward universal secondary education is faster in places with higher proportions of children reared in intact families, and
- To determine whether the gender gap in on-time progression at secondary school ages depends upon the proportion of children reared by single women.
Her work is focused on better understanding different trajectories of educational progress within low- and lower-middle income countries by introducing children’s living arrangements as a contextual variable. Focusing on this set of countries also affords the opportunity to contribute to debate about whether the relationship between family structure and educational outcomes is causal, because selection into single motherhood differs greatly between poorer and richer countries.
Dr. DeRose expects this research to contribute to understanding the effects of union instability and lone parenting at the societal level. If the hypothesis about low proportions of children in stable two-parent homes slowing progress toward universal secondary education is supported, then she will have highlighted a previously undocumented cost of the retreat from marriage. In contrast, if the hypothesis about societal levels of lone childbearing compromising boys’ education more than girls’ education is supported, she will have shown that the retreat from marriage contributes to greater gender equality in society.