Family Structure, School Engagement, and Post-Secondary Education

This study examines the reasons for the gap in educational attainment between children from intact and non-intact families. Though parental involvement and socioeconomic resources are well-established reasons, these factors do not explain the entire relationship between family structure and educational trajectories. This study considers whether school engagement is another major explanation for the comparatively lower educational attainment of adolescents from non-intact families. The analysis follows a cohort (born 1984) from age 15 to 26 and compares their chances of university enrolment and completion. The regression analysis demonstrates that school engagement is indeed an important reason for the lower educational attainment of adolescents from non-intact families. Moreover, the decomposition analysis demonstrates that school engagement is the primary explanation for the gap in educational attainment between adolescents from different family types. School engagement explains a greater proportion of this gap than the combined influence of parental involvement, parental education, and household income.