Parental Academic Involvement in Cross-border marriage, Native and Immigrant Families: The Roles of Family Resources and Parental Expectations

Abstract

Migration patterns have become more complicated than before. The increase in cross-border marriage has increased the diversity of the student population. A simple distinction between native and immigrant students overly simplifies their diverse backgrounds. Analyzing data from PISA 2012, we attempt to fill the gap in the literature by comparing parental involvement between cross-border marriage, native, and immigrant families in Hong Kong, with a special focus on the roles of family resources and parental expectations. Our findings show that cross-border marriage families are significantly different from and sit between native families and immigrant families in terms of family resources, parental expectations, and parental involvement. Family resources play a greater role than parental expectations in the differences in parental involvement between cross-border marriage families, native families, and migrant families. This suggests that the disadvantages of cross-border marriage and immigrant families in parental involvement largely stem from a lack of family resources.

(In)congruence in child–mother relationships and depressive symptoms in cross-boundary families.

“…Due to the intense competition among the youth of today, CBS parents are more motivated to place a premium on educational success (Chen, 2018), which actually becomes disadvantageous for the children's academic performance and causes more conflicts (Yu et al, 2020). This effect has been documented among Hong Kong cross-border marriage and immigrant families, who have a similar experience with difficulties of cross-cultural parenting and powerlessness in resources (A. K. L. Cheung & Park, 2020). This cold love was also observed in Chinese families with children left behind, a context of more parental sacrifices and less affinity (Xiao, 2022).…”

Does live-in domestic help reduce unpaid household labor? The paradox of intensive parenting and domestic outsourcing

“…Fathers are under less pressure, although studies have also found that the expectation of a greater time investment is increasingly being extended to fathers (Craig et al, 2014; Daly, 2001; Wall and Arnold, 2007). The ideology of intensive parenting is also prevalent in Asian societies like Hong Kong (Cheung and Park, 2020; Karsten, 2015; Lui and Choi, 2015). Middle-class parents, in particular, are most fearful of their children’s downward mobility, as they are witnessing the intensified competition for middle-class positions among the younger generation and the harsh reality of barriers to social mobility in their professions (Warner, 2006).…”