Household assets, school enrollment, and parental aspirations for children's education in rural China: Does gender matter?

Abstract

Using rural household data from the China Household Income Project (CHIP) 2002, this article provides an analysis of different effects of household assets independent of family income on children's school enrollment and parental aspirations for education, examining both outcomes by children's gender. The study first compared the responsiveness of boys' and girls' enrollment with the improvement of household assets, measured as liquid assets and net worth, relative to family income. The multivariate regression analysis further detected the effects of household assets on both boys' and girls' school enrollment and parental aspirations for their future education. Statistical results show that, compared with family income, household assets matter more for girls' schooling than for boys'. In addition, household net worth was found to be significantly associated with parental aspirations for children's education regardless of gender. This study, albeit exploratory, sheds light on child welfare and education policies in rural China.

Daughters' dilemmas: the role of female university graduates in rural households in Hubei province, China

“…They share their urban earnings with their families, which are often directed towards securing property for their brothers and sons, and prioritise their families' needs over their own emotional attachments when making marriage decisions. These findings contribute to the literature on daughter investment and parental educational aspirations, which suggests that daughters' increased access to education benefits young women directly (Deng et al 2014;Zhang, Kao, and Hannum 2007). Additionally, this article shows that young women's contributions to their households are the outcome of elaborate processes of negotiation, particularly between mothers and daughters, which shows that mother-daughter ties in Chinese rural households are not only characterised by affection and nurturing, as suggested by the literature on female ties in Chinese families (Evans 2007;Judd 1989), but also work to discipline young women and subtly coerce them into compliance.…”

Do different types of assets have differential effects on child education? Evidence from Tanzania

“…There is considerable empirical evidence that household wealth helps improve child education (Deng et al 2014 ; Chowa et al 2013 ; Huang 2013 ; Elliott et al 2011 ; Kim and Sherraden 2011 ; Shanks 2007 ; Zhan and Sherraden 2003 ; Conley 2001 ). Despite the positive effect of household wealth, there is very little empirical evidence on how different components of wealth (different assets) contribute to child education.…”

“…2 There is also a fairly extensive body of research on the 'asset-child education' relationship in developing countries. Deng et al (2014) and Filmer and Pritchett (2001) construct a measure of wealth based on assets and examine child education outcomes; others, like Chowa et al (2013) and Cockburn and Dostie (2007), construct measures of asset ownership and examine education outcomes. Chowa et al (2013) find that Ghanaian children in households that own at least one of five assets -TV, refrigerator, electric iron, electric or gas stove, and kerosene - 1 Their experiment had six elements, including asset transfer, training, and short-run support, but they consider the asset transfer to be the core component of the program.…”

“…One path is through increased investment in human capital, which can break cycles of poverty and help to extract people from chronic poverty. A large body of evidence has established that having more physical assets results in greater investment in children’s education, particularly in richer countries (Chowa et al, 2013 ; Conley, 2001 ; Deng et al, 2014 ; Elliott et al, 2011 ; Elliott and Sherraden, 2013 ; Huang, 2011 , 2013; Kim and Sherraden, 2011 ; Loke, 2013 ; Shanks, 2007 ; Zhan and Sherraden, 2003 ). 2 There is also a fairly extensive body of research on the ‘asset-child education’ relationship in developing countries.…”

“…Deng et al. ( 2014 ) and Filmer and Pritchett ( 2001 ) construct a measure of wealth based on assets and examine child education outcomes; others, like Chowa et al ( 2013 ) and Cockburn and Dostie ( 2007 ), construct measures of asset ownership and examine education outcomes. Chowa et al ( 2013 ) find that Ghanaian children in households that own at least one of five assets — TV, refrigerator, electric iron, electric or gas stove, and kerosene — outperformed the control group in English test scores.…”