The Effect Of Family Income On Family Education Expenditure Of Preschool Children

Nowadays,with the emphasis on education equity,the basic public education services provided by the government are not very different,so the difference of family education and its social effects have attracted more and more attention from the society and scholars.For preschool children,family factors play a crucial role in shaping and cultivating their early personality.The main body of preschool children’s care has been the family,so the family education expenditure of preschool children usually takes a larger proportion.In the research on education expenditure,scholars have found that family income is an important factor affecting education expenditure.From the perspective of economics,family income and education expenditure have the closest relationship.However,families may not have a rational attitude when making education expenditure decisions,especially Chinese parents.In addition to considering the family economic status,it is generally affected by the psychological perception formed under the influence of the family atmosphere.To what extent is the influence of family income on education expenditure reflected by psychological perception as the mediating variable? Is the effect significant? Is there heterogeneity among income groups and between urban and rural areas? These are exactly the questions addressed in this article.Based on the data of China Family Panel Studies(CFPS)in 2018,this paper takes families of 3-6 years old preschool children as research samples,and applies the theory of absolute income hypothesis,S-O-R theory,Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory,and planned behavior theory,etc.Family income and psychological variables are included in the research framework,and a path analysis model is built to discuss the direct impact of family income on family education expenditure and the indirect impact of family income on family education expenditure under the mediating effect of psychological perception,with family education expenditure as the explained variable,family income as the explanatory variable and psychological perception as the intermediary variable.At the same time,this paper studies the heterogeneity of different family income levels and urban and rural areas,so as to provide suggestions and references for families with preschool children in family education expenditure decision-making.This paper draws the following conclusions: First,the direct influence of family income on family education expenditure is significant,and the influence direction is positive.Second,family income has a significant positive impact on family education expenditure through the mediating effect of psychological perception.Psychological perception is a kind of psychological variable that reflects people’s subjective feelings.From the perspective of relevant theories,on the one hand,it is affected by objective conditions such as income.On the other hand,it is affected by family relationship,expectation of children,happiness and other family atmosphere factors.Under the influence of many factors,family members form the corresponding perception of preschool children’s education services,and respond to it,which affects family education expenditure behavior.Thirdly,the influence path of family income on family education expenditure has urban-rural heterogeneity.According to the empirical analysis results,the direct impact of family income on family education expenditure is significant,while the indirect impact of family income on family education expenditure under the influence of psychological perception is not significant.Both direct and indirect effects are significant in rural households.Fourth,there is income heterogeneity in the influence path of family income on family education expenditure.The direct and indirect effects of the income of low-income families on the family education expenditure are positive and significant.In high income families,the direct influence of family income on family education expenditure is significant.The indirect influence of psychological perception on family education expenditure is not significant.significant.