Abstract
This paper aims to investigate how great disparities in status attainment are caused by early (before respondents completing compulsory education) absence of father, and whether such disparities have been expanding or diminishing.
Using “Social Stratification and Social Mobility Survey”, the influences of early absence of father on educational attainment and on first job are examined. Findings are as follows: (1) Those who experienced early absence of their father were left behind in the wave of popularization of higher education. Therefore the disparity in opportunities for higher education has been widening. (2) After stable-growth period, they have been more likely to start their careers as blue-collar workers, not as professionals or white-collar workers in large firms. (3) The effect of early absence of father on first job is mainly explained by the disparities in educational attainment.
