A new review from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation concludes that wealth affects children’s outcomes. The authors analysed studies which separated the effect of money from other factors (eg, levels of parental education or parenting approaches) to isolate whether money was a direct cause of differences in outcomes. A total of 34 studies met the inclusion criteria.
The review concluded that while a parent’s level of education, attitude towards bringing up children, and other parental factors also have a bearing, having more money directly improves the development and level of achievement of children.
The authors found that money in early childhood makes the most difference in cognitive outcomes, while in later childhood and adolescence it makes more difference in social and behavioural outcomes.
Source: Does Money Affect Children’s Outcomes? (2013), Joseph Rowntree Foundation.