Dose family structure affect education more than income - Essay Example

Comparative to income, the structure of the family has more influence on the way an individual performs academically. The structure of the family from which a child comes matters a lot to their performance in school. That is because of the various strains and stress levels present in the different family structures. Some of the family structures that may be under consideration include traditional nuclear families where both parents are present, single mother families, single father families and families headed by grandparents.

All these family types impact academic performance differently depending on the issues the children face at home. Research shows that children from traditional nuclear families perform better academically as compared to those from the other family structures. That may be because their parents are more involved in their academic activities and expect more from them (Ginther and Pollak 3). The children from such families experience lower levels of stress, if any and the parents allocate more time and financial support to them (Pong and Thompson 683).

They also provide parental guidance and direction thus boosting their academic performance. Single parent families bring about several challenges to children growing up in those families. Some of the problems facing such children include lack of attention, lack of motivation and assurance as well as appreciation, which may cause stress to them. That affects their academic achievements. A comparison to children from stable, traditional nuclear families shows that these children from single parent families tend to have lower educational attainment (Ginther and Pollak 6).

The different classifications of single parent families also show different levels of academic achievement among children. Children from female-headed single parent families tend to record better