The Changing Role of Mothers’ Status in Children’s College Completion

Despite vast changes in women's status in society and in the home, we have little understanding of the changing role of mothers in shaping children's life chances. Mothers' contributions may have grown given their increased status-measured here as their education, occupational status, and earnings-and the rise of single-parent families. Using data from three large, nationally representative U.S. surveys, we find that the returns to mothers' status have remained relatively stable and similar to f