Family Resources and the Educational Trajectories of Children and Adults

Abstract

The article investigates the connection between family resources and the choice of particular educational trajectories. The authors show that the education level of a family serves as a stimulus for adults and children. The principle incentives for acquiring a higher education increasingly include the possibility of getting a lucrative job, learning a profession in demand, and good career possibilities. The analysis can be used to develop a typology of households that reproduce their social capital in the resource potential of future generations, and to compare the education of children from households of different types. It shows that higher education functions as a social elevator, allowing the transition of only a part of children from low income households to a higher social status.