Higher education attendance has important implications for individual’s future outcomes with those who attend higher education having higher earnings on average, as well as better health outcomes.
Attendance at higher education is already known to be affected by socioeconomic status, with those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds attending lower quality institutions and courses, relative to their attainment. However less is known about the role maternal depression may play in young person’s attendance at higher education and how it may influence their course and institution. Maternal depression has previously been shown to affect development and wellbeing with maternal distress being associated with worse socioemotional development, as well as being associated with worse educational attainment. This research will build on this existing knowledge by exploring the influence maternal depression has on higher education attendance.