Chinese parents' investment in their children's education has always been in the spotlight. From the survey data on the level of education expenditure per student in each school year from 2018 to 2019, we can see the actual situation of this investment. The survey, conducted by the China Institute of Educational Finance Sciences of Peking University and the China Household Finance Survey and Research Center of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, surveyed more than 40,000 households in all provinces of the country except **, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
The survey found that the national average household education spending in the 2018-2019 school year was 1130,000 yuan, with an average cost of 8,139 yuan per child. The average expenditure of urban households is 1420,000 yuan, which is 17 times.
It is worth mentioning that investment in education is not static. Over time, families' investment in education is also changing. Driven by mobile Internet technology, between 2015 and 2016, the world's leading education enterprises and education technology enterprises developed rapidly, and the traditional education model also changed. However, despite the fact that the state spends 4% of GDP on education, official statistics show that the share of non-financial education has been declining, while family spending on children's education has been increasing.
We can also get a glimpse of the patterns and differences in education investment in the survey data. There are significant differences in household education expenditures across school stages and regions. In urban areas, for example, households spend three times as much on out-of-school education for primary school students as in rural areas. As the school year progresses, the gap in family education expenditure gradually narrows, and even at the university level, the difference between urban and rural family education expenditure also decreases.
Factors related to investment in education are also the economic situation of the family and the educational level of the parents. Studies have shown that the more educated a parent is, the more invested a family is in their children's education. In addition, families of different income levels have different levels of investment in their children's education. Low-income families are more inclined to "conditionally 'chicken' babies", while high-income families are more inclined to "unconditionally 'chicken' babies".
The results of education investment are not always directly apparent, because the results of education often take a long time to manifest. Some off-campus training institutions even use some tactics to mislead parents into believing that the training has worked, such as buying test questions. Therefore, the effects of investment in education need to be observed and evaluated over a longer period of time.
With the adjustment of policies and the development of society, the form and mode of education investment are also changing. In 2021, the implementation of the "double reduction" policy caused some off-campus training institutions to stop operating, and the investment in family education also underwent certain changes. In this regard, we need further observation and research to better understand the relationship between education investment and education effectiveness.
Finally, investing in education is not only the responsibility of families, but also of society as a whole. We need to work together to provide better educational resources and environment for children to contribute to the sustainable development of society.
What is your view on the relationship between investment in education and educational effectiveness? How do you think education investment should be rationally allocated? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comment section.