Parental Age and Allocation of Resources to Offspring: A Collaborative project
This is a collaborative project between Lala Carr Steelman (University of South Carolina) and Brian Powell (Indiana University). The major objective of this research is to explore the connection between parental age and the flow of resources to children and, in turn, the educational consequences children experience in this process. Data are from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, High School and Beyond, and the National Longitudinal Survey of the High School Class of 1972. Little prior research has examined the relationship between parental age and parental investments in children. Our analysis focuses on five questions: (1) What is the form of the relationship between parental age and the allocation of resources to children? (2) How does the inclusion of socio-demographic and familial factors alter the relationship between parental age and the allocation of resources to children? (3) Does the relationship between parental age and allocation of resources to children vary by the sex of the parent? (4) Does the relationship between parental age and allocation of resources to children vary across different family structures and racial groups? (5) Is parental age related to educational and other status outcomes for children and, if so, is the relationship via the allocation of resources? Understanding whether resource allocation is influenced by parental age and distinguishing those resources which are most affected may prove useful in identifying resources that may be fruitfully augmented by other sources in the public and private sectors--such as schools, the community, and the government.
