Socioeconomic Status, Genotype, and the Differential Effects of Parental Separation on Educational Attainment

Abstract

Prior research has consistently documented a more pronounced negative impact of parental separation on educational attainment among children from families with high socioeconomic status (SES). This study leverages molecular data to investigate how the parental separation penalty on educational attainment varies by SES and children’s genetic propensity for education. We replicate the analysis on two distinct datasets, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and the Health and Retirement Study. We use parametric (ordinary leastsquares and logit) and nonparametric models (LOWESS), with college attainment and years of education as the dependent variables and the mother’s education as an indicator of family SES. Our results show that the parental separation penalty clusters among highSES students with a low genetic propensity for education. For highSES students with nonseparated parents, the probability of college attainment and completing more years of education is largely independent of their genetic propensity for education but decreases if they have a low genetic propensity for education and their parents separate. These findings suggest that when highSES parents separate, they experience a reduced capacity to compensate for their children’s low genetic propensity for education to boost college attainment and years of education.