The Interaction Effects of Parents, Spouse and Schooling: Comparing the Impact of Jewish and Catholic Schools

This paper discusses the literature on the long-range impact of schooling and the types of effects that schools have shown. It compares data on the impact of Jewish schooling on adult religiosity with similar data from a study of Catholic schooling. Like previous studies on other types of schools, the main effect of Jewish schooling seems to be an accentuation of parental influences. This effect is diminished substantially if not supported by marriage to a religious spouse. However, on some types of religiosity, extensive Jewish schooling produces “conversion” effects which persisted even when pre-school and post-school supports were lacking. The implications of these findings are discussed.