Youths' education results hit very hard when their parents split up
Apr 27, 2011
A recent study on Thai families shows a steadily declining number of children below 15 years living in households with both their parents.
This phenomenon is more prevalent in economically poor households, which in 2006, showed 62 per cent of children residing with both parents. In the three years since, the percentage dropped even further to 55 (see graphic; * Poor homes refer to households that registered consumption expenditure below the official line).
The two most important factors contributing to this were parents moving to other provinces to find work, and family break-ups through divorce or spouses separating.
In this article, I will show through two indicators the impact
on educational outcomes for youths who don't live with both their
parents. The first indicator shows the likelihood of youths of 19 years
and below who completed high school at the time of the survey,
enrolling in post-secondary education. 
The second set of indicators shows the science and maths scores of Thai students in international standardised tests for 15 year-olds. The tests were administered in 2009 by the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to assess the extent to which students near the end of their compulsory education had acquired essential knowledge and skills to participate in society.
From a sample of 509 youths of 19 years and below, it was found that those not living with both their parents are associated with a 30 percentage point decline in the probability of advancing to post secondary education after completing high school.
In measuring the impact, adjustments were made for differences in the background of youths and their parents, household per capita monthly income, the geographic region of their homes, and the socio-economic status of each household.
After making similar adjustments to student, parental, household, as well as school characteristics, our study also shows average negative impact on youths of living with only one parent or none to be 20 test points for science and 26 test points for maths. The magnitude of this impact on the test scores are very significant and are equivalent to 10 and 14 percentage point decline for science and maths respectively.
It may be inferred from the above that children living with both parents are likely to do better in schools and take their education further than those from "broken homes". This is not to dismiss poverty as a contributing factor.
Present as well as prospective parents would do well to bear in mind that giving their offspring a favourable familial environment could contribute to their academic advancement. The subject also merits further study by government and those concerned with the education of Thai youths.
By Dilaka Lathapipat, PhD
Thailand Development Research Institute
Dilaka@tdri.or.thThank you The Nation