A study of 6,000 people revealed the benefits of growing up surrounded by books
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It has been shown that e-books have the potential to encourage children who dislike reading to read more, and research has shown that children who grow up surrounded by paper books earn more over their lifetime than those who do not.
Books Are Forever: Early Life Conditions, Education and Lifetime Earnings in Europe - Brunello - 2016 - The Economic Journal - Wiley Online Library
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecoj.12307/abstract
Boys who live with books 'earn more as adults' | Education | The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/may/29/boys-books-earnings-adults
Cicero, a Roman philosopher who lived in the same era as Caesar, famously said, 'A room without books is like a body without a soul.' Giorgio Brunello, Guglielmo Weber, and Christoph Weiss, three economics researchers at the University of Padua in Italy, have also suggested that a room without books is also a sign of coming hardship.
To investigate the relationship between lifetime income and childhood home environment, Brunello and his colleagues conducted a survey of 6,000 people in nine European countries. The survey covered the 37-year period from 1920, when the compulsory school graduation age was raised across Europe, to 1956. They examined income at age 10 according to the following family circumstances: 'had fewer than 10 books at home,' 'had a bookshelf,' 'had fewer than 100 books,' 'had fewer than 200 books,' and 'had more than 200 books.'
The survey results showed that those who receive higher education in addition to compulsory education have an average income increase of 9% per year of higher education compared to those who only received compulsory education. However, even among those who receive higher education, it was found that income varies significantly depending on family environment. For example, those who grew up in a home with few books saw an increase in income of 5% even after receiving higher education, while those who grew up surrounded by many books saw an increase of a whopping 21%. It was found that this tendency was particularly pronounced in rural areas.
by Jordan Gillespie
It has also been found that people who grow up surrounded by books have a better chance of finding a higher-paying job. Furthermore, it has been found that people with a lot of books in their homes are more likely to find clerical jobs rather than manual labor.
Regarding why books affect income, Brunello et al. analyzed, 'Books encourage children to read, and reading has a positive effect on school performance. A home filled with books can be said to be in a socioeconomically advantageous situation.' Furthermore, the number of books in a home can also predict, to some extent, the cognitive test scores of children raised in that home. This suggests that the degree to which cognitive and socioeconomic skills important for economic success later in life improve is significantly influenced by a child's home environment.
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