TY - JOUR
T1 - Does the school cutoff date cause the disadvantage for children born in July and August?
AU - Zhang, Chunni
AU - Xie, Yu
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s).
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Compulsory education systems usually specify a cutoff date regulating the precise age for entry into primary school. Existing literature from the USA and Europe has demonstrated that children born just before the cutoff date are disadvantaged in academic performance and has formalized this phenomenon as the “age position effect.” A recent study by Liu and Li (Sociol Stud 6:169–245, 2015) reported similar findings for China. Our study, however, challenges Liu and Li’s conclusion by examining the long-term effects of birth month on socioeconomic attainment and the compliance rate regarding the cutoff date. Using the 2005 1% Mini-census Survey and the 1992 National Sample Survey of the Living Situation of Chinese Children, we found a significant variation in socioeconomic achievement by birth month in adulthood in ways that differ from those reported by Liu and Li. In addition, we found compliance to be affected by both birth month and parental characteristics. In conclusion, our article proposes parental self-selection as an alternative explanation for the cutoff date effect.
AB - Compulsory education systems usually specify a cutoff date regulating the precise age for entry into primary school. Existing literature from the USA and Europe has demonstrated that children born just before the cutoff date are disadvantaged in academic performance and has formalized this phenomenon as the “age position effect.” A recent study by Liu and Li (Sociol Stud 6:169–245, 2015) reported similar findings for China. Our study, however, challenges Liu and Li’s conclusion by examining the long-term effects of birth month on socioeconomic attainment and the compliance rate regarding the cutoff date. Using the 2005 1% Mini-census Survey and the 1992 National Sample Survey of the Living Situation of Chinese Children, we found a significant variation in socioeconomic achievement by birth month in adulthood in ways that differ from those reported by Liu and Li. In addition, we found compliance to be affected by both birth month and parental characteristics. In conclusion, our article proposes parental self-selection as an alternative explanation for the cutoff date effect.
KW - Age position effect
KW - Compulsory Education Law in China
KW - Enrollment cutoff date
KW - Life-course perspective
KW - School starting age
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85051740073&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85051740073&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s40711-018-0075-8
DO - 10.1186/s40711-018-0075-8
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85051740073
SN - 2198-2635
VL - 5
JO - Journal of Chinese Sociology
JF - Journal of Chinese Sociology
IS - 1
M1 - 4
ER -