Let's talk with your kids: Children's involvement in intra-household decision-making and their education attainment - Evidence from Indonesia

Many studies on the determinants of children's education attainment have found that characteristics of child, parents' background and family income are the most important factors. However, the current research shows the importance of intra-household decision-making on children's education attainment. This study aims to analyze the impact of children's involvement in intra-household decision-making on their education attainment. We then separate the decision-making on children's schooling choices into two types: authoritarian (decided by parent only) and democratic (children's involvement). This study uses three waves of 2000, 2007, and 2014 IFLS dataset to examine whether a democratic choice results in the best outcome for children's future education attainment. Applying econometric estimations, this study confirms that the democratic type of decision-making on children's education choices has a higher impact on children's education attainment compared to the authoritarian type of decision-making. When children are active in decision-making regarding school choice, then their education attainment will increase around 0.728 years. In addition, giving girls greater rights to be actively involved in household decision-making related to their education choice will result in a higher education attainment than the same treatment applied to boys. This study suggests that parents should hear children's voices in deciding their education choice.