Parental Job Loss and Children's Educational Attainment in Black and White Middle‐Class Families^*

Abstract

Objectives. We aim to understand why blacks are significantly less likely than whites to perpetuate their middle-class status across generations. To do so, we focus on the potentially different associations between parental job loss and youth's educational attainment in black and white middle-class families.Methods. We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), following those children “born” into the survey between 1968 and 1979 and followed through age 21. We conduct multivariate regression analyses to test the association between parental job loss during childhood and youth's educational attainment by age 21.Results. We find that parental job loss is associated with a lesser likelihood of obtaining any postsecondary education for all offspring, but that the association for blacks is almost three times as strong. A substantial share of the differential impact of job loss on black and white middle-class youth is explained by race differences in household wealth, long-run measures of family income, and, especially, parental experience of long-term unemployment.Conclusions. These findings highlight the fragile economic foundation of the black middle class and suggest that intergenerational persistence of class status in this population may be highly dependent on the avoidance of common economic shocks.

Parental job loss and the education enrollment of youth

“…The authors only find negative effects of job loss on children's subsequent education attainment among children of lower income and black parents. Kalil and Wightman (2009) also use PSID data and estimate a significant negative effect of parental job loss on the probability of youth from middle income families obtaining any post-secondary education by age 21, with much larger effects for black youth than white youth. This analysis is also related to a number of recent studies of the effect of parental job loss on children's earlier education outcomes.…”

Australian children's accounts of the closure of a car factory: global restructuring and local impacts

“…The situation of these children contrasts strongly with that of children in middle-to low-income countries where trade unions have no power and welfare state safety nets are non-existent (Heymann 2006 provides accounts of families and children in these settings). Research by Kalil & De Leire (2002) also suggests that paternal job loss is more detrimental on families of lower socio-economic status.…”

“…Such research usually surveys workers (and sometimes also partners/spouses) to explore associations with childhood distress, or changed child or family behaviour or functioning as measured by psychological, behavioural, and academic measures (e.g., Bowman 1988;Broman, Hamilton and Hoffman 1990;Dew, Penkower & Bromet 1991;Kalil & De Leire 2002;Liem & Liem 1988;Rayman 1988;Rege, Telle & Votruba 2007;Voydanoff & Donnelly 1988;Yeung & Hofferth 1998). Increasingly, research incorporates qualitative methods and asks workers and/or sometimes also partners about feelings, reactions and experiences.…”

Afrontamiento ante el impacto del desempleo de larga duración en Bizkaia: relatos de incertidumbre e inseguridad

“…La pérdida del empleo supone una disminución de los ingresos en el hogar, lo cual produce un impacto económico que redunda en el conjunto del sistema familiar (Anaf et al, 2013;Janlert y Hammarstrom, 2009;Kalil y Wightman, 2011;Neppl et al, 2015). Las familias entrevistadas han experimentado una pérdida en el poder adquisitivo y han visto afectada su capacidad de hacer frente a gastos, aunque no en la misma medida.…”

“…Por tanto, el desempleo, y en especial el de larga duración, es un acontecimiento vital estresante que afecta no sólo a la persona desempleada, sino al conjunto del sistema familiar (Anaf et al, 2013;Buendía, 1990Buendía, , 2010Gough y Killewald, 2011;Janlert y Hammarström, 2009;Kalil y Wightman 2011;Menaghan, 1991;Neppl, et al, 2015;Schliebner y Peregoy, 1994;Villardón et al, 2011). En este sentido, las consecuencias para la persona desempleada van más allá de la mera pérdida de ingresos económicos, provocando profundos cambios en la estructura personal o familiar, que se manifiestan en tres dimensiones, psicológica, física y social, y el paso, en muchos casos, a la denominada clase de 'nueva pobreza' (Dagdeviren, Donoghue y Meier, 2016) Además, las familias con prole a su cargo resultan especialmente vulnerables al impacto del desempleo, puesto que, con la combinación de los estresores derivados de la situación de desempleo y las demandas de la parentalidad, los recursos emocionales de los individuos pueden verse menguados, lo cual puede reducir la capacidad de cuidar de los miembros de la familia (Schliebner y Peregoy, 1994;Weckström, 2012).…”