Socioeconomic status and school absenteeism: A systematic review and narrative synthesis

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Abstract

Abstract School absenteeism is detrimental to life course outcomes and is known to be socioeconomically stratified. However, the link between socioeconomic status (SES) and school absence is complex given the multidimensional nature of both family SES (e.g., income, education, occupational status) and absenteeism (e.g., truancy, sickness, suspension). Despite the vast literature on socioeconomic inequalities in school attendance, no systematic review on SES and school absenteeism exists. This study systematically reviewed and provides a narrative synthesis of journal articles ( n = 55) published between 1998 to 2019 on the association between SES dimensions and forms of absenteeism. The majority of studies from high‐income contexts found an association between SES and absenteeism in the expected direction, albeit on average with small effect sizes. Studies largely confirmed these findings among populations at risk of school absence and those from low‐ and middle‐income countries. There was greater evidence for an association between absenteeism and SES measured at the family than the school level. Studies using SES measures of financial resources (e.g., free or reduced‐price lunch) provided more evidence for this association than studies measuring sociocultural resources (e.g., parental education). We found limited evidence that socioeconomic gaps in absenteeism vary by the reasons for absence. Research on the mediating pathways between SES and absenteeism is sparse. A key implication is that attempts to address inequalities in educational outcomes must include tackling SES gaps in school attendance. Context and implications Rationale for this study Our narrative review synthesised the literature on socioeconomic status (SES) and school absenteeism. Why the new findings matter Inequalities in school absenteeism may partly account for socioeconomic disparities in children’s academic achievement. We found that lower SES is associated with higher levels of absenteeism in most of the studies we reviewed, including among disadvantaged groups. Implications for policy‐makers and practitioners Given robust evidence that school absences are detrimental to children’s academic achievement, policy‐makers and practitioners need to place an explicit focus on addressing socioeconomic disparities in school attendance in order to close SES achievement gaps. This will be particularly important in tackling the consequences of Covid‐19 related school closures around the world. An intersectional approach that addresses multiple disadvantages should be adopted to tackle inequalities in school attendance. Researchers should address several gaps, such as directly comparing SES effects across different reasons for absenteeism and examining the mechanisms by which SES leads to absenteeism.

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