Whether rich or poor, residents of the United States or China, illiterate or college graduates, parents who have books in the home increase the level of education their children will attain, according to a 20-year study led by Mariah Evans, University of Nevada, Reno associate professor of sociology and resource economics.
For years, educators have thought the strongest predictor of attaining high levels of education was having parents who were highly educated. But, strikingly, this massive study showed that the difference between being raised in a bookless home compared to being raised in a home with a 500-book library has as great an effect on the level of education a child will attain as having parents who are barely literate (3 years of education) compared to having parents who have a university education (15 or 16 years of education). Both factors, having a 500-book library or having university-educated parents, propel a child 3.2 years further in education, on average.
Evans said, "Even a little bit goes a long way," in terms of the number of books in a home. Having as few as 20 books in the home still has a significant impact on propelling a child to a higher level of education, and the more books you add, the greater the benefit. "You get a lot of 'bang for your book'," she said. "It's quite a good return-on-investment in a time of scarce resources."
The study by Evans and her colleagues at Nevada, UCLA, and Australian National University is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on what influences the level of education a child will attain. It is titled "Family scholarly culture and educational success: Books and schooling in 27 nations," and it appears in the journal Research in Social Stratification and Mobility. It can be accessed (for a fee) from ScienceDirect.com.
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