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The Daily

The Daily. Friday, December 7, 2001

Participation in postsecondary education and family income

1998

Young people from high-income families were 2.5 times as likely as those from low-income families to have participated in university education in 1998 or before, according to data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID).

Individuals aged 18 to 21 who came from low-income homes were less likely to have ever enrolled in any form of postsecondary institution by 1998. But the gap was particularly pronounced for university education.

This analysis examines the relationship between family income and postsecondary education participation, using a nationally representative sample. It will be followed by more detailed analyses looking at other explanatory factors surrounding postsecondary education participation.

The analysis divided the 18- to 21-year-old population into four equal quartiles, or quarters, according to family income when they were aged 16. Among those from families in the highest quarter, about 40% in 1998 had attended university at some time in their life.

Postsecondary education participation and family income, 18- to 21-year-olds

1998


  Lowest quartile Middle half Highest quartile Average
  Family income at age 16
Highest level of education participated        
All postsecondary(1) 48.8 61.4 71.0 60.7
University 16.3(2) 26.1 39.6 27.0
College(3) 26.7 29.5 28.2 28.5
1Includes university, community college or institute of applied arts and technology or CEGEP, and trade/vocational schools, but excludes business/commercial schools.
2Estimates with relatively high sampling variability.
3Includes community college or institute of applied arts and technology or CEGEP.

This rate of university attendance was about 2.5 times that of individuals in the same age group from the lowest one-quarter of incomes (16%). In comparison, about 26% of young people from families whose income was in the middle two quarters had attended university.

Among the families in the highest quarter, more than 70% of young people by 1998 had at some time in their lives participated in some form of postsecondary education-university, college or trade or vocational schools.

Among families in the lowest quarter, 49% of young people had done so. In the middle two family income quarters, 61% had participated in postsecondary education of some sort.

The gap between young people who came from the highest and lowest levels of income in 1998 was narrowest for participation in college-either a community college or CEGEP.

On average, almost 29% of young people aged 18 to 21 had attended college, but never university. The differences in college participation rates across family income groups were not statistically significant; thus it is impossible to reject the hypothesis that there is no real difference in college participation among the 18- to 21-year-olds by family income.

Among young people aged 18 to 21 from low-income families who had pursued any postsecondary education, the majority went to college. Among those from high-income families who had pursued any postsecondary education, the majority went to university.

This study's results are similar to those of a study using data based on the 1994 General Social Survey. The previous study established a link between university participation among young people aged 18 to 21 and their family socio-economic status based on their fathers' occupations when they were aged 15. It also showed an increasing gap between 1986 and 1994 in university participation rates by family socio-economic status. However, the study using SLID data is not directly comparable with previous studies based on the General Social Survey, because of the use of the income variable instead of socio-economic status based on occupation.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services, Centre for Education Statistics (1-800-307-3382; educationstats@statcan.gc.ca) or John Zhao (613-941-6333; john.zhao@statcan.gc.ca), Family and Labour Studies Division.



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Date Modified: 2001-12-07 Important Notices