What is it about?
Why does household income matter for adolescents' academic achievement? I examined whether two types of parental investment—private educational expenditure and parent–child communication—help explain this relationship using a large longitudinal dataset from Korea. Unlike many previous studies that measured educational investment in general ways, this study focuses on private educational expenditure, a defining feature of Korea's highly competitive education system and one frequently highlighted in OECD reports. The findings show that private educational investment plays an important role in linking household income to adolescents' academic achievement, whereas parent–child communication does not explain this association. These findings provide new evidence on how socioeconomic inequality influences educational outcomes and may help inform education policies aimed at reducing educational disparities.
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Why is it important?
Most studies on educational investment have focused on broad measures such as learning resources or parent–child interactions. This study takes a different approach by examining private educational expenditure, a distinctive feature of Korea's highly competitive education system and one frequently highlighted in OECD reports. By incorporating this context-specific measure into the Family Investment Model, the study provides new evidence that financial investment, rather than parent–child communication, explains how household income is translated into adolescents' academic achievement. These findings contribute to a better understanding of socioeconomic inequality in education and offer evidence that may inform policies aimed at reducing educational disparities.
Perspectives
As a researcher studying child and adolescent development, I have long been interested in how family socioeconomic resources shape children's educational opportunities. Korea offers a unique context because private educational expenditure is deeply embedded in its education system. I hope this study encourages researchers to consider how cultural and policy contexts influence family investment processes, and helps policymakers develop strategies to reduce educational inequality while recognizing the realities of different educational systems.
Ran Kang
Sungkyunkwan University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Household income and academic performance in Korean adolescents: A longitudinal test of dual investment pathways, PLOS One, July 2026, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0353476.
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