Parental involvement in low-achieving children’s learning: The role of household wealth in rural India

• Published in: International journal of educational research 2021, Vol.105, p.101701, Article 101701
• Main Authors: Cashman, Laura, Sabates, Ricardo, Alcott, Benjamin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asset ownership; India; Parental involvement; Principal component analysis; Wealth
• ISSN: 0883-0355; 1873-538X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101701

•Wealthier parents have higher involvement levels in activities at home and school.•A wealth gradient exists for all five parental involvement activities examined.•Wealth could be used to target support to parents to increase involvement. Existing research recognises that while parents often aspire to be involved in their children’s education, some face barriers that prevent this. Studies situated in the Global North recognise economic constraints as a barrier, presenting a steep gradient whereby the richer households are, the higher their parental involvement levels. This paper analyses the influence of household wealth on parental involvement in low-achieving children's education in a resource-constrained area in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. Based on regression models from a sample of 13,558 households, we corroborate evidence from wealthier contexts: wealthier parents are consistently more likely to be involved in low-achieving children’s learning. This suggests that stakeholders should be aware of the potential influence of household wealth on parental involvement in rural India.