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Abstract
This dissertation examines the role of parental illness on a child’s academic achievement using data from multiple waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its Transition to Adulthood Supplement (PSID-TAS). Through three essays, I investigate the effects of parental illness on high school GPA, the prospect of college education, and academic achievement in college. The first essay investigates how the high school graduation GPA of children whose parents experienced chronic illness onset before graduation compares to the GPA of children whose parents remained healthy. I find a significant negative relationship between the GPA and the severe maternal physical illnesses or mental health issues that occurred before her child’s high school years. The second essay tests the impact of parental illness on the child’s odds of college enrollment measured at the age of 21 or younger and the expectation to complete four years of a college education. The estimations reveal that maternal illness, specifically severe or mental health conditions, and the simultaneous occurrence of 4 or more health conditions significantly and negatively influence the child's expectation of completing a 4-year college degree and actual college enrolment at age 21 or younger. The study also revealed that a father's severe illness experienced before high school slightly reduces a child's odds of college enrollment. Further, children who have mothers with a health condition diagnosed before the commencement of high school have lower expectations of completing four years of college. The third essay utilizes the panel dimension of TAS data to examine the “within” variation in the GPA of college students employing the fixed effects estimation method and tests how the onset of chronic parental illness experienced when a young adult is enrolled in college affects their academic performance. I find a significant negative relationship between severe maternal physical illness and the child’s college GPA. Findings from this dissertation emphasize the far-reaching consequences of parental illness on a child’s schooling and college success. To mitigate some of the impacts of parental illness, educational institutions could improve overall support mechanisms for children, especially those who enter school and universities with pre-existing parental illnesses.