Reading books as boys from a young age tends to earn higher over a lifetime, a new study shows.
Data on 5,820 European men to work out if longer compulsory childhood education could increase kids’ earnings over a lifetime, economists from the Italy’s University of Padova compared. It does: Averaged across nine countries, boys who attended an additional year of faculty thanks to changing age requirements eventually returned a further 9% of income.
But the researchers were surprised to seek out that, among kids who benefited from an additional year of college, those that grew up with quite 10 non-school books reception doubled that lifetime earning advantage eventually, to 21%. Factors like whether the boys’ fathers had white-collar jobs, and whether their homes had running water, did not seem to form a difference.
Between whether participants reported having 50, 100, or 200 books growing up, there was no significant difference. The key was whether or not they grew up with any number of books greater than 10.
Whether the lads grew up in rural or urban environments, the years they were at school, roughly what percentage of books they had in their houses at age 10, and their income across their lives, The researchers compared. The study was published online in April within the Economic Journal.
Between books and salaries, this does not show any causation. “It may well be because homes with books capture families with stronger cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds,” says researcher Guglielmo Weber. Another indication of a house that encourages knowledge-seeking or includes a higher income from the beginning, books themselves could spark curiosity and ambition, in other words. So, here is why you must get your boys into reading programs for kids and put them in a better position to be successful in the future.
