Raising children who love to read I am sure is important to most parents.
But never mind just reading them, did you know books are brilliant on a whole other level too?
In fact, a study published in the
Economic Journal has proved that even just growing up surrounded by books is good for kids. Specifically, growing up in a home with plenty of books can actually help children make more money as adults.
It's true. A
study by economists from the University of Padua looked at 6,000 men born in nine different countries across Europe, and asked them if they grew up in a home with:
- Fewer than 10 books
- A shelf of books
- A full bookcase
- Two bookcases
- Or more than just two bookcases
And guess what? Researchers Giorgio Brunello, Guglielmo Weber and Christoph Weiss found that those who hailed from homes with more books ended up with more money as adults.
There were other factors involved too, of course. For instance, an additional year of schooling boosted adult income by a whopping nine percent. But, interestingly, this was also correlated to the access to books, as those who grew up in a home with lots of books found that extra year gave them a 21 percent rise in earnings – while those with very few books only had a 5 percent rise.
How did this happen, you might wonder? Well, the researchers think there are many reasons why books have such a big impact on future earnings. One of the reasons, they hypothesised, was simply that books encourage children to read.
“Perhaps books matter because they encourage children to read more and reading can have positive effects on school performance,” the researchers explained. “Alternatively, a home filled with books indicates advantageous socio-economic conditions.”
And, of course, good and above average socio-economic conditions tend to be a cursor in determining how well children do later in life.
