Why do parents send their children to school earlier? Evidence from China

Parents in different countries appear to have different opinions on the timing of sending their children to school. While studies in U.S. claim that U.S. parents tend to hold back their children even when they are legally eligible to attend school, papers on Chinese education show that Chinese parents prefer their kids to have an early start. This paper, with a particular focus on background introduction and literature review, aims to examine the reasons behind Chinese parents sending their children to school as early as possible. The main research question is: why do Chinese parents send their children to school earlier? Specifically, we test the impact of financial status, access to education and workforce, gender of the child, and having siblings on parents' decision.