What Money Can't Buy

by Susan E. Mayer

Children from poor families generally do a lot worse than children from affluent families. They are more likely to develop behavioural problems, to score lower on standard tests, and to become adults in need of public assistance. This book asks whether income directly affects children's life chances, or if the factors that cause parents to have a low income also impede their children's life chances. The question of causation is explored, comparing the value of income from different sources, to determine if the value of a dollar from welfare is as high as the value of a dollar from wages. Parents' income after an event, such as teenage childbearing, is also investigated in order to establish whether it can predict that event, if so this suggests that income is a proxy for unmeasured characteristics that affect both income and the event. The author also compares children living in states that pay high welfare benefits to those with low benefits.