Regional Wealth Disparity,Family Education Expectations and Common Prosperity:Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications
Whether the gap between the rich and the poor in the process of China's economic and social transformation raises or suppresses family education expectations,and how to promote social mobility and achieve common prosperity through educational equality deserves in-depth study.This paper uses data from China Family Panel Studies(2014-2018)to explore the impact of the wealth disparity on education expectations and education investment of urban and rural households.The results suggest that the gap between the rich and the poor lowers households'educational expectations,and mainly negatively affects the unprivileged groups such as low-income and rural households,while educational subsidies can significantly suppress the negative effect of the wealth disparity on unprivileged households'educational expectations.The widening of the regional wealth gap,however,increases the overall level of educational investment in the region.Results also show that the wealth disparity will widen the education investment difference among classes,reflecting the current trend of"involution"in education investment.Finally,in view of negative externality of the social wealth disparity in education,this paper proposes policy recommendations from aspects of narrowing the gap between social classes,reducing the burden of family education,and improving family education expectations.
common prosperitywealth disparityfamily education expectationsocial mobilityeducational equality