SOCIAL POLICY, FAMILY STRUCTURE, AND CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Open Access
Author:
Hampden-Thompson, Gillian M. H.
Graduate Program:
Educational Theory and Policy
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
June 10, 2004
Committee Members:
Suet Ling Pong, Committee Chair/Co-Chair Paul Richard Amato, Committee Member David P Baker, Committee Member Sean F Reardon, Committee Member
Keywords:
single-mother families literacy comparative educational achievement family structure social policy family policy
Abstract:
This study explored the interface between policy and the family. More specifically, this research examined how the relationship between single motherhood and children’s literacy achievement is affected by a country’s family policy environment. Using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the size of the literacy achievement gap between 15-year-old students from two-parent and those from single-mother households was compared across 18 industrialized nations. This study found that cross-national differences exist in the relationship between single motherhood and literacy achievement. The research findings also demonstrate that economic deprivation is the dominant explanation as to why children in single-mother homes fare worse educationally than their two-parent counterparts. The results of the multilevel analysis, which included country-level data from the Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of York (England), indicate that there is a relationship between the family policy environment of a country and the literacy achievement gap between the two family structures. Overall, the results of this study highlight an intricate relationship between policy and the family.
