Peer-reviewed article
Parental resources and child well-being in East Asia: An overview
James M. Raymo, Hao Dong ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This is an overview of a special journal issue that looks at how parents' resources relate to children's outcomes in China, Japan and Korea. The papers use newly available panel data and PISA data. They look at regional differences, non-monetary resources, shadow education, gender differences and how close grandparents live. Overall, parental education and income are linked to better child well-being and development in East Asia, as in western societies, though local context changes these links. The authors say the relationships are more complicated than a simple focus on economic inequality suggests.
Key points
- The papers use newly available panel data and PISA data from China, Japan and Korea.
- Parental education and income are positively associated with child well-being and development in East Asia, as in western societies.
- Distinctive contextual features cause variation in these relationships.
- The relationships are more complicated than simple emphases on economic inequality and the relative success of children from rich and poor families suggest.
- The papers extend the cross-national literature on parental resources and child well-being geographically.
Limitations
Only the overview abstract is available, so we cannot see the individual studies' methods, sample sizes or effect sizes. It describes associations and does not evaluate an intervention.
Abstract
The papers in this special issue use newly available panel data and data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) to examine linkages between parental resources and children’s outcomes in China, Japan, and Korea. Specific foci of the papers include regional differences, non-monetary resources, shadow education, gender differences, and the proximity of grandparents. Results demonstrate that, as in western societies, parental education and income are positively associated with child well-being and development in East Asia, but distinctive contextual features contribute to variation in these relationships. It is also clear from the findings that relationships between parental resources and child outcomes are more complicated than suggested by simple emphases on economic inequality and the relative success of children from rich and poor families. Together, these papers contribute a much needed geographic extension to the large cross-national literature on parental resources and children’s well-being. The findings provide a valuable empirical basis for assessing the role of context and understanding similarities and differences within East Asia and between the East and West.