Abstract: This paper, based on micro dat, investigated the effect of social and family background on individual average return to education in Jilin in 2006.The results showed when social background variables is added into the earning, education return becomes obviously lower .By using family backg round variables in latent model, individual return to education is about 7.5 percent.The conclusion is that the effect of social and family background on individual income isremarkable.

Keywords: returns to education; latent model; social background; family background