Background still counts in quest for success

Education + Training

ISSN: 0040-0912

Article publication date: 1 August 2003

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Citation

(2003), "Background still counts in quest for success", Education + Training, Vol. 45 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2003.00445eab.001

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited


Background still counts in quest for success

Background still counts in quest for success

A father's background is still at least as important as his son's academic abilities in determining whether the child will go on to get a degree at university, according to research sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council. The study explored the relationship between fathers' and sons' earnings and investigated the function of inheritance as a means of influencing lifetime inequality. It was led by Martin Weale and Professor James Sefton, of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

In common with other studies, they found that there is a strong relationship between fathers' and sons' earnings. But while background is important in the early years, sons from a low social class compete on equal terms with those from a high one if they are successful in working for A-levels or better. Once a son reaches at least A-level standard, his father's social class and income no longer influence his own earning power. On the other hand, if sons leave full-time education early, their fathers' incomes have a marked impact on the children' s prospects. Those from higher-income families are much more likely to have higher earnings themselves than those from poorer backgrounds.

Estimates produced by the researchers suggest that sons inherit between 20 and 60 per cent of the earning power of their fathers, depending on the way in which the calculations are performed and the extent to which allowance is made for other factors. When allowance is made for the sons' reading and mathematics performance at age eleven, this falls to 15 per cent, suggesting that an important factor is the effect of background and income on performance at primary school.

The study found, unsurprisingly, that fathers with high incomes are significantly more likely to leave legacies to their sons than are fathers with low incomes. The probability of a son receiving a legacy is also positively related to the level of education he has received. A son educated to below A-level has a lower chance of receiving a bequest than does one who goes on to A-level or beyond. And children who gain a degree unexpectedly are the most likely to receive a legacy. According to Martin Weale: "There is no evidence to suggest that inheritance is used by fathers as a means of offsetting disappointing earning performance by their sons, and this points to inheritance being a modest additional source of inequality."

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