Household Head’s Educational Level and Household Education Expenditure in China: The Mediating Effect of Social Class Identification

Fairness in education is an issue of great concern for China's development. And household education expenditure is a key factor and objective material embodiment of the educational resources and educational opportunities for their children. Using the data of the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS2016), this study analyzes the mechanisms of action in household education expenditure affected by both the educational level and the social class identification of household heads. The empirical results indicate that Chinese household head's social class identification is affected positively by their educational level. After controlling for the potential endogeneity, the education expenditure tends to increase as the subjective social class identification of the household heads is promoted. Class identification plays a partial mediating role in the process of the household head’s educational level affecting the household education expenditure. The findings provide important insights for understanding the intergenerational transmission mechanism of cultural capital in China.