According to Finnish studies, differences in income are explained primarily by genes
Hereditary factors and circumstances determine most of what level of salary a person can achieve. A Finnish study shows that parenting plays a minor role. The results of the study described in the article are based on observations of almost all Finnish non-identical twins of the same sex and identical twins who were born between 1950 and 1957.
Successful people can certainly thank their parents for their philosophy and upbringing.
However, the importance of the family in terms of the success of children is much less than is commonly believed. This is evidenced by studies of psychogenetics.
We can thank the parents for our resume, but parenting will not be the most important factor in their influence on our lives. First of all, parents influence their children through genes.
This is the conclusion reached by Finnish economists Ari Hyytinen, Pekka Ilmakunnas, Edvard Johansson and Otto Toivanen in a study on twins that was recently published in the economic journal The Journal of Economic Inequality).
They noticed that the differences in labor income and capital income are primarily due to genes. In men, hereditary factors explained 54% of the difference in wages, in women - 39%.
“Women have more intermittent careers and are more likely to choose whether to work or stay at home. This explains why women are less likely to have inherited inheritance when it comes to income,”notes Ilmakunnas, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Aalto University.
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Genes influence income through preference, health, intelligence, personality, and risk appetite. These characteristics, in turn, determine education, job choice, and affect career advancement.
“In Finland, too, you can see that outgoing people earn more,” says Ilmakunnas.
The results of the study are based on observations of almost all Finnish non-identical twins of the same sex and identical twins who were born between 1950 and 1957. The researchers studied the income level of these people when they were between the ages of 33 and 59, that is, they were professionally active.
When comparing identical and non-identical twins, it is possible to establish the extent of the impact of genetics and environment on education, character traits, IQ, or income.
Although economists have studied twins, the study's findings apply to all people. Thanks to twins, it is possible to create a natural setting for an experiment in which researchers can determine the role of genes and the environment in the fate of people.
Identical twins have one genotype, that is, the same genes are presented in each cell of the twins.
Usually they are brought up in the same family, in childhood they live in the same area, go to the same school. These conditions are common to them, and researchers call this community a “shared environment”.
Thus, if identical twins in adulthood differ from each other, for example, in education and income levels, this suggests that the differences are caused by different genes and parenting environment. But these factors are the same for them, so they do not explain the differences that have arisen.
Differences between identical twins who grew up in the same family can be explained by environmental factors that they encounter in person. These can be a circle of friends, a serious illness, a failed relationship, or an unexpected job offer.
There are an infinite number of environmental factors that influence the fate of each person individually, they cannot be systematized.
Psychogenetic researcher Antti Latvala from the University of Helsinki believes that individual factors affect a person as strongly as genes.
“Genetic exposure comes from a very large number of small minor exposure cases. There are no genes for wealth or poverty. There is a large collection of genes that have very little impact. But if you bring them together, they will make a big difference,”says Latvala.
“There may also be various minor factors in the environment that add up to the overall impact.”
Researchers who have studied twins compare identical and non-identical twins to each other. Non-identical twins share approximately 50% of genes in common with siblings. They are united by the educational environment.
If identical twins are more similar in income to each other than non-identical twins, it can be concluded that genes influence this trait. The noted difference in similarity indicates the strength of hereditary factors.
In comparison, the role of the general environment is also noted. If non-identical twins are more alike than can be explained by genes, this surplus can be explained by a single parenting environment.
Many studies have shown that a person's individual environment was more influential than the general environment. The roles of the individual environment and genes have even intensified with aging.
“If we study childhood, for example, childhood weight, we note the proportion of the impact of the general environment. However, if we follow the further development of people's lives, the impact of the common environment will become less. This is manifested in many ways,”Latvala says.
Growing up, people begin to make their own decisions about their lives. They can realize their own inclinations, the impact of the family environment is reduced. In such cases, the proportion of genes that explain various propensities in human activity also increases.
According to Latala, parents naturally think that it is important for the future of their children how they behave with their children. However, parents forget about the effects of their own genes.
“If parents have higher education, they pass on genes to their children that will help the child to become successful in school. At the same time, parents offer their children a nurturing environment in which they read a lot. However, the upbringing environment may not matter as much as the genes that parents passed on to their children,”Latvala explains.
In a study that Ilmakunnas conducted with his colleagues, the individual's environment played about the same role in the income differential as genes. However, the role of home conditions and other general environment was approaching zero.
In studies conducted in other countries, the impact of the parenting environment on the difference in income among individuals was, on average, about 10%. Compared to the effects of genes and environmental factors, this is not much.
The study group of Finnish twins went to school before the educational reforms in Finland. In those years, children were divided into classes of different specializations already at the age of 11.
This may enhance the role of individual environmental factors in a given age group in comparison with the generation that received education after school reform.
The school reform is known to have raised the level of equity in Finnish education, and this has strengthened the manifestation of inherited traits in teaching.
“As educational opportunities expand, the impact of genetics in education increases. This was recorded in Norway,”says Ilmakunnas.
In the context of more equal opportunities, social barriers do not so much limit the realization of innate inclinations.
In their study, Ilmakunnas and colleagues observed that the number of years of schooling was not related to income. The difference in income is more likely to be explained by the area in which the education was received, rather than its duration.
“A Master of Arts can earn significantly less than a high-level professional graduated from a technical school,” says Ilmakunnas.
Psychogenetic research sometimes provokes negative reactions in society. It is believed that psychogenetics speaks exclusively about the fact that differences in society are associated only with the biological characteristics of a person.
Nobody pays attention to the fact that the study also emphasizes the great role of the environment.
The fact that some traits are innate and biological does not mean that they cannot be changed. After all, we change our poor vision by putting on glasses.
“We assign a fairly large role to heredity, but this does not mean that nothing can be done about the resulting difference in income. Society can equalize the level of income through a system of taxes and income redistribution,”recalls Ilmakunnas.
Sometimes studies involving twins and their results may be limited by the fact that they involve successful families. People with financial difficulties usually do not participate in such studies.
There is no such shortage of Finnish data, since the study included almost all twins of a certain age living in Finland.
Mikko Puttonen