Crises and Educational Attainment
利用1910-1940年美国人口普查数据，研究发现大萧条期间青年失业率上升显著提高了高收入家庭男孩的高中和大学完成率，但对女孩和低收入家庭影响甚微，凸显了家庭资源在教育机会获取中的关键作用。
Between 1910 and 1940, U.S. high school graduation rates rose five-fold, driving twentieth-century economic growth. I explore how the Great Depression’s surge in youth unemployment influenced this trend, emphasizing gender and socioeconomic disparities. Using linked census data and newly digitized city-level unemployment rates, I find that youth unemployment significantly increased high school and post-secondary completion among higher-income boys, while effects on girls and lower-income youths were negligible. These results underscore the role of household resources in leveraging educational opportunities, as financial constraints limited disadvantaged groups from benefiting from reduced opportunity costs.