Abstract
The objectives of this paper are twofold. First, I compare educational expectations between children who experienced family disruption and those with continuously married parents. Second, hypotheses regarding the effects of family structure on educational outcomes are tested.
The data used in this study comes from a nationally representative sample of junior high school students and their parents (or guardians). The results provide strong evidence that children with divorced/widowed/remarried parents, compared with their counterparts with continuously married parents, report lower educational expectations. Not only single motherhood due to divorce but single fatherhood and parental remarriage are negatively associated with childrenʼs educational expectations. The association remains statistically significant when control variables are held constant. The findings are most consistent with the family stress hypothesis that emphasizes the importance of family stability for childrenʼs educational outcomes.
