ABSTRACT
Does everybody have an equal opportunity to achieve success in life, or, as the opening quote implies, is success “rigged”? This chapter looks at how your parents1 influence your accumulation of human capital and subsequent economic success. The role of parents cannot be overemphasized. Your parents give you your genes and are also the major factor determining the “quality” of the environment you grow up in. Your parents’ money and choices are decisive in determining the quantity and quality of schooling you receive, what neighborhood you live in, who your peers are, who your role models are, and how healthy you are. Your parents determine how much nurturing you receive, give you “connections,”2 and teach you social graces. Your parents determine your race, ethnicity, and skin tone, and help determine your health, beauty, sexual orientation, and religion. (Your gender is a more random event.) Children do not “inherit” only human capital from their parents; some inherit significant amounts of financial wealth. In short, you can thank or blame your parents for much of your economic success. Ceteris paribus, a child with “good” parents will have greater opportunities than a child with “bad” parents.
