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ERIC Number: ED612674
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Jan-27
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Postsecondary Education Planning before and during the COVID-19 Lockdown. StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada
Bonikowska, Aneta; Frenette, Marc
Statistics Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rapid and substantial increase in unemployment and to uncertainty about future job prospects. Despite this increased uncertainty, parents' expectations that their children will pursue postsecondary studies remained high during the lockdown--91.7% of children whose parents were surveyed in May or June 2020 were expected to pursue some type of postsecondary education, compared with 93.9% of children whose parents were surveyed in February or by March 13, 2020. Little to no change in expectations was observed across a wide spectrum of child characteristics, such as age, parental education, immigrant status and household income. Among children whose parents expected them to pursue a postsecondary education, those whose parents were surveyed before and during the COVID-19 lockdown also did not differ much in the likelihood of having had savings already put aside for their postsecondary education. The pandemic appears to have created more polarized expectations about future savings among children whose parents have not yet begun saving for their children's postsecondary education. During the lockdown, 54.4% of children had parents who said they planned to save in the future, compared with 46.2% of those whose parents were surveyed before mid-March. At the same time, the share of children whose parents reported that they did not expect to save also increased, from 18.3% to 24.8%. Conversely, the share of children with parents who did not know whether they would save in the future declined (from 35.5% to 20.9%). These gaps remained statistically significant, even after accounting for differences in parental education, immigrant status, the child's age and household income.
Statistics Canada. 150 Tunney's Pasture Driveway, Ottawa, ON K1A 0T6, Canada. Tel: 800-307-3382; Fax: 613-951-4441; e-mail: educationstats@statcan.gc.ca; Web site: http://www.statcan.gc.ca
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Postsecondary Education; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Statistics Canada
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A