Interesting Read

In my Trends of Higher Education class each member of the class has had to pick an issue report to brief the class on. I picked a really boring one (to me) called Trends in College Pricing. It was interesting to read over, but not interesting to give a report on and write a paper on. It has been good to hear what other members of my class have brought to class, but last week was my favorite. A girl in my class did her oral report on a report by the Economic Mobility Project with the Pew Charitable Trust.

On a rainy day with nothing to do, check out this report. It is very interesting.
Click here to view it

My professor raved about this report and said that every person should read this report - especially parents.

The most interesting parts of the report were about how family structure and parental education can impact a child's future. As a future mother and current student - it hit home with me!

Here are some of the interesting facts to me from the report:

The likelihood that a young child is read to every day increases with a mother’s education level.

Fathers who take an active role in parenting their children, such as by helping to build their language skills through reading or talking to their children, tend to have children who academically outperform those with fathers who are less involved.

More-educated mothers and mothers who score higher on academic aptitude tests tend to create better home environments for their children, and better home environments may aid young children in their early behavioral and cognitive development.

Stronger parent-child bonds influence children at a critical early age. There is some evidence to suggest that sensitivity and responsive care from the mother secure mother-child attachment during the first years of a child’s life, which appears to bolster early childhood development of socio-emotional, behavioral, cognitive and language skills. Children who have stronger bonds with their parents tend to exhibit better behavioral outcomes than do children whose parents are less engaged in their lives.

Parents who combine warmth toward children with discipline generally have children with better school outcomes and fewer behavior problems than other children, and parents who exhibit little warmth and impose little discipline generally have children with worse outcomes.

Graduating from college seems to make a profound difference in one’s ability to get ahead. Although just the act of attending college corresponds with wages that are 16 percent higher than what one would most likely earn with only a high school diploma, one must graduate in order to maximize the return on the time and money invested in college. Those earning a two-year associate’s degree will earn an average of 29 percent more than those with only a high school diploma. Likewise, those who graduate from college with a bachelor’s degree will make an average of 70 percent more than those with only a high school diploma. In addition, graduate school beyond a bachelor’s degree is a relatively good investment.

On page 22 of the report it has an interesting graph. It shows this: For every 100 students that go to high school, 75 will graduate, 50 will go to college, 30 will graduate from college, 5 will earn a Master's, 2 will earn a professional degree, and 1 will earn a doctoral degree.

The rest of the report discusses how health and savings and wealth influences economic mobility.