Parental monetary investment in unstable context: how is educational disruption related to investments in children?

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 6. Familial Investments in Schooling

Abstract

While parents’ spending on children’s learning plays an important role in children’s wellbeing, most research is focused on high-income countries with stable context. How parents adjust their strategies for monetary investment in children’s development in the situation of armed conflict and educational disruption remains a puzzle. This study explores patterns of families’ spending on children’s developmental activities during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, where schooling is delivered in varying modes (in person, online, and mixed) and often is interrupted by air strikes. I draw on nationally representative UNICEF household survey data collected in 2024, linked to measures of air alert duration as an indicator of danger and education disruption. I hypothesize that families adapt their spending strategies to the situation, and with the increase of danger and longer educational disruption, child expenditure of more affluent households will increase more than those of less affluent ones. Findings will contribute to debates on education and inequality by showing how conflict and institutions reshape families’ monetary investments in supporting children’s learning.

Author

• Olga Murasova, University of Wisconsin-Madison