This study investigated the relationship between family wealth and school dropout among 1,231 vocational education students. It examined whether family affluence and students' perceptions of family wealth (perceived family wealth, financial scarcity) predict dropout, if civic attitudes (system justification, institutional trust) explain the family wealth-dropout link, and if teacher trust buffers dropout risk among students with low civic attitudes. Results showed that financial scarcity predicted dropout, indirectly affecting it through lower institutional trust. Teacher trust neither affected dropout nor moderated the relationship between civic attitudes and dropout. These findings highlight how students' perceived and experienced family wealth impacts educational attainment by reducing trust in social institutions.

Catrin Finkenauer, Maartje Boer, Jenna Spitzer, Dominic Weinberg, Kirsten Visser, Merel Jonker, Gonneke W. J. M. Stevens