Parental aspirations and child private-school enrollment: Evidence from India

We estimate the relationship between parental aspirations and child private-school enrollment using longitudinal data on children from India aged 8–22 years and instrumental variables that address a number of possible biases in the estimation for a causal interpretation. We find that children whose parents aspire for them to complete university are 21% more likely to attend a private school at age 12 and that this persists through to age 15. Our results also suggest that children living in wealthier households and in communities with higher wages are more likely to be enrolled in private schools at both age 12 and 15 years. We further find that children whose parents aspire for them to complete university are more likely to have done so by age 22 years. Overall, our findings highlight the scope for improving access to private schools among the poor through relaxing associated external and internal constraints.