Do school grades influence parental support?

The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany, has researched parents' support behavior in relation to school grades. The study shows that low-income families support their children equally regardless of grades, while parents from higher income groups tend to give more support to children with lower grades. It also raises the question of whether these patterns contribute to low social mobility, as parents of high-achieving children from lower social classes do not have the same resources and strategies at their disposal as parents of low-achieving children from higher social classes. Whether a child brings home good or poor grades may influence the extent to which parents support their children. Much of the research to date has assumed that parents with a higher socio-economic status (SES) are more likely to support the child with poorer grades than the child with good grades. In low SES families, on the other hand, it has been assumed that only children with the best chances of academic success are supported. A recent study by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), however, does not find support for this theory, at least in families with lower incomes.