Children with access to books “earn more as adults”

Children who grow up in a house containing a wide selection of books earn more later in life, according to a new study by economists in Italy.

Researchers at the University of Padua studied 6,000 men across nine European countries over the period 1920–1956, finding that an extra year of education increased lifetime earnings by an average of 9%.

However, among men who had access to a lot of books at the age of ten, this increased to additional earnings of 21% per extra year of education. At the other end of the scale, men who grew up with less than a shelf of books earned only 5% more.

According to the study, which is published in The Economic Journal and appeared in an earlier form as an IZA discussion paper, this could be because of the positive effect of reading on school performance; or, alternatively, because having books in the home indicates advantageous socio-economic conditions.

Men who grew up in a house with books were also more likely to enter the labor market in a white-collar job, the authors found.

Anna Vignoles has written for IZA World of Labor about the economic value of literacy and numeracy. She observes that even in developed countries, these skills attract higher wages, suggesting they are in high demand and that there is a relative scarcity.

In her article, Vignoles argues that: “Simply increasing the number of years spent in education, or the qualification level of the workforce, will not automatically improve the basic skills of the workforce. Instead, investment in programs to improve individuals’ basic skills should be accompanied by rigorous evaluation, as the content of the curriculum and the standards achieved matter a great deal.”

Related articles:
What is the economic value of literacy and numeracy? by Anna Vignoles
Intergenerational return to human capital by Paul J. Devereux
Find more IZA World of Labor articles on the education and labor policy