The rise in inequality and "tiger mom" parenting

The spirit of Gary Becker can be felt in this piece by Matthias Doepke and Fabrizio Zillibotti. It's good fun to read. The central proposition is contained in this passage:

A seemingly universal area of disagreement between parents and children is the trade-off between working hard for school and for one’s career versus having fun with friends and other immediate enjoyments. Few parents wish that their kids blew off homework more often in exchange for some instant pleasure. This conflict can be interpreted as a difference in time preference – parents worry more about the long-term consequences of children’s behaviour (such as studying for school) than do the kids themselves. Hence, many parents push their children towards harder work, either through coercion (such as ‘grounding’ children, i.e., not allowing them to spend time with friends) or through sustained indoctrination with a strong work ethic and a striving for success.

The return to pushing children hard consists of the increased likelihood that they will do well later in life. How important this is to parents depends crucially on the degree of economic inequality, and in particular on the return to education. In an economy where education and effort are highly rewarded and where people with little education struggle, parents will be highly motivated to push their children hard.

Thus, we expect economic inequality to be associated with intensive (authoritarian and authoritative) parenting styles.

In contrast, in an economy where there is little inequality and artists and school dropouts earn only slightly less than doctors and engineers, parents can afford a more relaxed attitude, and permissive parenting should be more prevalent.

Now, the assertion that higher inequality implies higher returns to education is a bit vague. In fact, in some Western societies there seems to be a tendency to acquire too much formal education, where a collective move towards more learning on the job could be beneficial. But if we define education as a general set of skills that makes you fit for the working world, then the story makes a lot of sense. Times are getting tougher in developed countries, and so should parenting.