Data from Denmark offers intriguing new insight into the topical issues of schooling, educational attainment, achievement and earnings. Professor Paul Bingley explains that findings show that the effect of class size varies in relation to family size. "The effects of reducing class size on improved educational attainment are small for two child households, irrespective of sibling spacing," he says. "But effects are large for larger families, particularly if the children are born close together."
"The implication of this finding is that parents can compensate for the effects of large class size, but this is more difficult for larger families and with more closely spaced children," he adds. However, Professor Bingley believes that based on this data, the effects of class size in Denmark are not large enough to merit reductions in class size.
Another study challenges recent evidence that a father's schooling has a larger causal effect on the children's schooling than a mother's. "We only identified this for older children," he says. "In recent years, mothers' schooling has become more important for children than fathers'. This is consistent with expanding educational opportunities for women in the 1950s."
A final study shows that the causal effect of education on earnings in Denmark has continued to rise despite the increased supply of higher education opportunities, implying education is not keeping up with demands driven by technological change.
ESRC Grant Number RES-000-27-0200
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