Introduction
Box 3: Conceptual model for the mediating effects of parent education on child development
There are two types of channels for effects of parents’ education. Parents’ education
matters because: (i) it impacts on other important factors (Box 3) and (ii) it moderates
the effects of other important factors (Box 4).
Box 4: Conceptual model for the moderating influences of parental education
Distal family |
Characteristics of |
___ь |
Proximal family |
Outcome | ||
▲ |
---F ▲ |
▲ |
Parent
education
This double impact operates for each type of factor. To clarify the discussion of these
relationships we start with income as an example of a distal factor. The discussion is
at this point entirely conjectural. In subsequent sections of the paper we assess the
nature of the links proposed both in terms of their theoretical foundations and
empirically. Here, the focus is on clarifying hypotheses rather than evaluating them.
First, the direct effect; parents’ education has a direct effect on family income.
Therefore, some of the effect of income is, in a sense, an effect of prior parental
education. Secondly, the moderating effect: family income influences child