Family Disadvantage and the Gender Gap in Behavioral and Educational Outcomes

Arbeitspapier

Using birth certificates matched to schooling records for Florida children born 1992 – 2002, we assess whether family disadvantage disproportionately impedes the pre-market development of boys. We find that, relative to their sisters, boys born to disadvantaged families have higher rates of disciplinary problems, lower achievement scores, and fewer high-school completions. Evidence supports that this is a causal effect of the post-natal environment; family disadvantage is unrelated to the gender gap in neonatal health. We conclude that the gender gap among black children is larger than among white children in substantial part because black children are raised in more disadvantaged families.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 5925

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth ; Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination ; Education and Inequality
• Subject: gender gap ; family structure ; education and inequality ; early skills development

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Autor, David H. ; Figlio, David N. ; Karbownik, Krzysztof ; Roth, Jeffrey ; Wasserman, Melanie
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
• (where): Munich
• (when): 2016

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/144960
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET