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This study explored the implications of low-income mothers' entry into post-secondary education (PSE) during their children's first five years of life. Using propensity score matching to analyze data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth of 1979, we examined associations between maternal entry into PSE during early childhood and children's short- and long-term (ages 7 and 13, respectively) academic and socioemotional outcomes. We found that mothers' entry into PSE during early childhood had no short-term effects on children. There were, however, long-term positive effects on academic outcomes among children with a coresident father figure, and negative effects on behavior. We also tested explanatory mechanisms and found that maternal PSE entry had positive long-term effects on household income, but income did not mediate effects on long-term child outcomes. Further, maternal PSE had no effects on the home learning environment, mothers' educational expectations for children, maternal presence at home, or family climate. • Maternal PSE entry during early childhood has no short-term effects on children. • Maternal PSE has long-term academic benefits for children with coresident fathers. • Maternal PSE has long-term negative effects on children's behavior. • Maternal PSE has long-term positive effects on household income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests whether young adolescents' achievement and behavior are associated with their mother's entry into post-secondary education (PSE) during their middle childhood years. It also examines five family processes that may link maternal PSE to development in middle childhood (income, home learning environment, mother's educational expectations for child, maternal presence, and family affective climate). The sample selects low-income families from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth of 1979. Propensity score weighting adjusts for mothers' self-selection into PSE. We find that adolescents whose mothers entered PSE in their middle childhood scored higher than their peers on math, but similarly on reading, behavior problems, delinquency, and substance use. There were no associations between mothers' PSE entry and the proposed mediators. • Mothers who return to school may boost child achievement but impair behavior. • This study examined low-income families in a national, longitudinal sample using propensity score weighting. • We examined adolescents whose mother entered post-secondary education in their middle childhood years • They scored slightly higher than matched peers on math but the same on reading and behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]