That the educational level of the parents will influence the future level of the children seems clear, not so much by inheritance but by the influence of the environment in which these children will grow. However, the simple fact of having books at home can determine that children have more studies than others who don't have them.
Does this mean that the socioeconomic status of the parents or their place of origin does not matter? Of course not, but an experiment showed that the amount of books at home available to children is also important.
The study, entitled "Family scholarly culture and educational success: Books and schooling in 27 nations," lasted 20 years and its results were published in the journal "Research in Social Stratification and Mobility".
Experts from different Universities participated (Nevada, California and the Australian National University) and it becomes one of the largest and most comprehensive studies that have ever been done on the factors that influence the educational level that a child will obtain.
The investigation showed that the difference between being raised in a house without books and being raised in a house with a library of 500 books It has such a large effect on the level of education of the child as the difference between having parents with hardly any studies or with university studies.
The sociologist Mariah Evans of the University of Nevada, Reno (United States) conducted this research to show that Children of parents without education can benefit from the presence of books at home, looking for ways to help rural communities in Nevada, trying to improve their development and education.
It is not necessary to reach 500 books, but according to their data with only 20 books in the home the educational effect on children is noted, although I add that it will be if these books do not stay on the shelves as ornaments but that Parents put them at their fingertips and take an interest in books themselves, if they teach them to enjoy them and show appreciation for culture and all that books can offer ...
The figures indicate that in some countries, such as China, having 500 books or more at home means that children study an average of 6.6 years more. In the United States, the effect is less: 2.4 years. The average in the 27 countries studied is 3.2 years of studies than in houses without books.
The conclusions show that the impact of having books at home is greater than the educational level of the parents, the GDP of the country, the profession of the parents or the political system they have in their State, although I find it hard to believe that under such different conditions books at home have an influence similar to that highlighted, the type of families studied should be carefully considered.
As we see, a new reason to leave books within the reach of children, since With books at home, children have a higher educational level, or at least more likely to do so and achieve higher education. Without this entailing forgetting many other factors that undoubtedly influence this fact.
