The article reviews studies on parental unemployment and children's educational outcomes. It provides an overview of the results, methods and mechanism behind the effects of parental unemployment on education. Almost all the reviewed 21 articles show that parental unemployment harms children's educational outcomes such as GPA, grade repetition, secondary and tertiary education as well as educational attainment. The negative effect is related usually but not always to paternal unemployment. The magnitude of the negative effect depends on the country context indicating that welfare state protects children from the negative effects of parental unemployment. The mediating mechanisms behind the negative effects varies also between countries and institutional context.