Imagine being given everything you could ever want from a young age. The best education, holidays and homes, then told you never really need to work because your family has more than enough money. A dreamy scenario for some. But there is normally a side effect: wealth robs children of motivation. The more money that is given to children from a young age, the less passion and motivation they have, say wealth advisors.
The children of rich families tend to go to better quality schools, have higher cognitive skills, and complete more years of schooling. This column exploits unique data from the National Child Development study to determine these early childhood factors go on to have long-run impacts on an individual’s lifetime earnings, perpetuating a cycle of wealth. These results suggest that policies that equalise investments, such as improving school quality, could promote income mobility.
