A Review of Matthias Doepke, Fabrizio Zilibotti, Love, Money, and Parenting: How Economics Explains the Way We Raise Our Kids. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019, 384 pp.

Abstract

The popular science book by professors of economics Matthias Depke and Fabrizio Zillibotti investigates the impact of economics on parental behaviour in different countries. The authors pinpoint the relationship between the level of economic inequality in a particular state and the dominant parenting style according to the classification of Diana Baumrind. The higher the level of economic inequality, the stricter and more demanding parents will be in relation to their children. The authors note the transformation of parental behavior in Western countries towards greater control over children’s school performance and deeper parental involvement in their lives. The conclusions of Depke and Zilibotti are based on big data from sociological surveys and economic indicators.