Parental involvement, summer activities, and the intergenerational transmission of educational attainment

Several authors have speculated that better-educated parents’ higher levels of parental involvement may influence the intergenerational transmission of education; however, this hypothesis has yet to be formally tested. We begin to fill this gap in the literature by estimating augmented intergenerational mobility models that include measures of parental involvement and children’s participation in “school-like” summer activities using rich data from the Child and Young Adult Supplement to the National Longitudinal Survey (NLSY79). Participation in organized summer activities is directly associated with children’s educational attainment, as is the frequency with which mothers read to children. Much of the correlation between mothers’ and children’s education is driven by college-educated mothers reading to their children and facilitating their children’s participation in stimulating summer activities. The relationship between participation in organized activities and educational attainment is stronger for children in wealthier households, girls, and children of married parents. Policy implications are discussed.