Love, money & parenting How economics explains the way we raise our kids

This volume examines parenting--a topic of great interest to many--in conjunction with a key economic issue today, income inequality. Economists Doepke (Northwestern) and Zilibotti (Yale) examine how economic factors affect parenting styles, arguing that with low inequality, parents can be permissive when raising children because the costs of not succeeding are low--their children have only slightly lower incomes as adults. However, when inequality is high and relative position is not determined by status at birth, there are more authoritative "helicopter parents" due to the greater costs of children not succeeding in school. The authors use a broad array of data sets to provide empirical support for their hypothesis, as well as to draw out policy implications of their analysis. Following the tradition of Gary Becker, this book covers uncharted territory and crosses disciplinary borders by bringing economic analysis to a topic not traditionally regarded as within the purview of economics. Well written, researched, and argued, this work should interest a broad range of social scientists and students. Because it introduces a new avenue of research--an economic analysis of parenting--this work is a must acquisition for college and university libraries. Summing Up: Essential. All readers. --Steven Pressman, Colorado State University