Immigrant parents saving for children's post-secondary education despite financial barriers
MONTREAL, Nov. 17 /CNW Telbec/ - Most immigrant parents not only expect their children to get a post-secondary education, but they also allocate limited family resources to saving for their children's educational future, says new research from the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation.
A report, issued today, entitled Immigrant Parents' Investments in Their
Children's Post-Secondary Education, looks at savings for post-secondary education as part of a broader planning strategy called "intensive parenting" that sees parents mobilize a range of social, cultural and material resources to prepare their children for post-secondary studies.
Key findings of the report include:
- The higher the educational aspirations that immigrant parents have for their children, the more likely they are to save money for post-
secondary studies.
- Families in which at least one parent is foreign-born save more, on
average, for their children's advanced studies than families in which
both parents are Canadian-born.
- Families in which both parents are foreign-born are more likely to face financial difficulties in saving for post-secondary education, as there are greater numbers of low-income families in this group.
"One can appreciate the desire that immigrant parents show for social
mobility for their children, and their willingness to make sacrifices to that
end," said Norman Riddell, the Foundation's executive director and chief
executive officer. "Nevertheless, given that many recent immigrants have lower incomes than other Canadians, we must ensure that they have access to better support when it comes to saving for their children's post-secondary education.
It is a question not only of social equity, but also of the continued economic prosperity of our country."
Immigrant Parents' Investments in Their Children's Post-Secondary
Education is available on the Foundation's website at
www.millenniumscholarships.ca/en/research/AllPublications.asp.
The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is a private, independent
organization created by an act of Parliament in 1998, with a mandate to
deliver bursaries and scholarships to Canadian post-secondary students until
the end of 2009. The Foundation provides students with opportunities to pursue
the post-secondary education they need to prepare themselves for the future.
To date, it has awarded more than 900,000 bursaries and scholarships, worth
some $2.7 billion, to Canadian post-secondary students.
