Filed Under > Research/Publications
Research: Household Income Related to Preschool Attendance in China
Research by Xin Gong, a PhD candidate in the Economics and Education program of the Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis and a research assistant in Center on Chinese Education; and Di Xu, a post-doctorate, quantitative research associate at TC's Community College Research Center, has found that household income in China is directly correlated to preschool attendance.
Writing with Wen-Jui Han of NYU's Silver School of Social Work, Gong and Xu found "a robust positive association between household income and preschool attendance in both rural and urban settings," according to an article published on the MedicalXPress website.
In the first study to employ rigorous methodology to examine the association between household income and preschool attendance with a Chinese sample, the authors calculate that a 10 percent boost in household income would bring close to a 1 percentage point increase in preschool attendance, or about 1 million more 3- to 6-year-old children in China.The findings are especially important because more than 70 percent of mothers in the 25–34 age range with children under the age of 6 in China work outside the home, suggesting that many who need childcare cannot afford it. Household income has consistently been shown to affect child care choices in both developed and developing countries.
"Our results show that families in China face substantial financial constraints in their children's preschool attendance, particularly in rural areas. Taken together, our findings call for government investment to address this challenge. Our results also highlight the need for future research that evaluates the impacts of subsidies or income support programs for preschool attendance in China."
ARTICLE: Household income found to be related to preschool attendance in China
LINK TO ABSTRACT: Household Income and Preschool Attendance in China
Published Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015