Home Environment and Parental Involvement in Homework During Adolescence in Catalonia (Spain)

Abstract

It is well documented that parental behavior is a strong determinant of a child's educational achievement and general well-being. Thus, it seems relevant to analyze the determinants of parental involvement in the education of their children. While most studies analyze the effect of family characteristics (such as parents' education, ethnicity, or family structure) on parental involvement, we focus on the effect of home environment. Specifically, we consider parental assistance in homework during adolescence, which is defined from the children's perspective. Data come from a unique sample of more than 2,300 students in the last 2 years of compulsory education in 70 schools in Catalonia (Spain). Results show that a good home environment increases the relative probability that parents get involved in their children's homework. The effect is slightly higher for girls than for boys. The inclusion of home environment leaves no relevance to family structure. Results are robust to different estimation procedures.