What money can't buy : family income and children's life chances
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
What money can't buy : family income and children's life chances
Harvard University Press, 1997
- : pbk
Available at / 32 libraries
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The Library, Niigata University of Health and Welfare
367.6||WH100016294,
: pbk367.6||WH100014026 -
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-221) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
ISBN 9780674587335
Description
Children from poor families generally do a lot worse than children from affluent families. They are more likely to develop behavioural problems, to score lower on standard tests, and to become adults in need of public assistance. This book asks whether income directly affects children's life chances, or if the factors that cause parents to have a low income also impede their children's life chances. The question of causation is explored, comparing the value of income from different sources, to determine if the value of a dollar from welfare is as high as the value of a dollar from wages. Parents' income after an event, such as teenage childbearing, is also investigated in order to establish whether it can predict that event, if so this suggests that income is a proxy for unmeasured characteristics that affect both income and the event. The author also compares children living in states that pay high welfare benefits to those with low benefits.
Table of Contents
- Part 2 America's response to poverty: from moral guidance to income support
- the cycle repeats
- changes in government expenditures on poor children. Part 3 How rich and poor children differ: measures of children's well-being
- how large are the differences? why parental income might be important. Part 4 Conventional estimates of the effects of income: what other studies show
- re-estimating the conventional model
- changes in parental income. Part 5 The 'true' effect of income: the source of income
- income before and after an outcome. Part 6 Income and material well-being: how families spend additional money
- income and material hardship
- living conditions and children's outcomes Part 7 Income, psychological well-being, and parenting practices: income and parental stress
- income and parenting practices. Part 8 More evidence on the 'true' effects of income: trends in parents' income and children's outcomes
- state welfare benefits and children's outcomes
- what social experiments show. Part 9 Helping poor children: raising parental income
- how much is enough? changing parents' noneconomic characteristics
- where the trouble begins. Appendices: description of the samples and variables
- conventional estimates of the effect of income
- the 'true' effect of income
- index construction
- more evidence on the 'true' effect of income.
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780674587342
Description
Children from poor families generally do a lot worse than children from affluent families. They are more likely to develop behavior problems, to score lower on standardized tests, and to become adults in need of public assistance.
Susan Mayer asks whether income directly affects children's life chances, as many experts believe, or if the factors that cause parents to have low incomes also impede their children's life chances. She explores the question of causation with remarkable ingenuity. First, she compares the value of income from different sources to determine, for instance, if a dollar from welfare is as valuable as a dollar from wages. She then investigates whether parents' income after an event, such as teenage childbearing, can predict that event. If it can, this suggests that income is a proxy for unmeasured characteristics that affect both income and the event. Next she compares children living in states that pay high welfare benefits with children living in states with low benefits. Finally, she examines whether national income trends have the expected impact on children. Regardless of the research technique, the author finds that the effect of income on children's outcomes is smaller than many experts have thought.
Mayer then shows that the things families purchase as their income increases, such as cars and restaurant meals, seldom help children succeed. On the other hand, many of the things that do benefit children, such as books and educational outings, cost so little that their consumption depends on taste rather than income. Money alone, Mayer concludes, does not buy either the material or the psychological well-being that children require to succeed.
Table of Contents
Introduction America's Response to Poverty From Moral Guidance to Income Support The Cycle Repeats Changes in Government Expenditures on Poor Children How Rich and Poor Children Differ Measures of Children's Well-Being How Large Are the Differences? Why Parental Income Might Be Important Conventional Estimates of the Effect of Income What Other Studies Show Re-estimating the Conventional Model Changes in Parental Income The "True" Effect of Income The Source of Income Income before and after an Outcome Income and Material Well-Being How Families Spend Additional Money Income and Material Hardship Living Conditions and Children 's Outcomes Income, Psychological Well-Being, and Parenting Practices Income and Parental Stress Income and Parenting Practices More Evidence on the "True" Effect of Income Trends in Parents' Income and Children's Outcomes State Welfare Benefits and Children's Outcomes What Social Experiments Show Helping Poor Children Raising Parental Income How Much Is Enough? Changing Parents' Noneconomic Characteristics Where the Trouble Begins Appendix: Description of the Samples and Variables Appendix: Conventional Estimates of the Effect of Income Appendix: The "True" Effect of Income Appendix: Index Construction Appendix: More Evidence on the "True" Effect of Income Notes References Index
by "Nielsen BookData"
