New social risks and educational vulnerability of boys and girls in Spain

In recent years, post-industrial societies have experienced changes in family structures and demographic composition that may potentially open new spaces of social exclusion in childhood. The increasing number of marital breakdowns and family recompositions, increased migration flows and increasing job insecurity contribute to reshape the landscape of social risks affecting individuals during childhood and adolescence. The main objective of this study is to assess the educational attainment of boys and girls in Spain, and to identify factors that explain variations across gender. In this paper we analyze to what extent the emergence of these new social risks, defined primarily arising from a non twoparent family structure, origin (first or second generation immigrant) and the participation or not of the mother in the labor market may increase educational inequalities between boys and girls.