What kind of parent are you?

Parenting styles are heavily influenced by socioeconomic context

In modern society, many aspects of life have become increasingly similar around the world - one of the rare exceptions to this, perhaps, is how we raise our children. In the United States, there is some truth to the stereotype of "helicopter parents" who monitor and guide their children's lives every step of the way. Scandinavian parents are the opposite. They are more interested in nurturing their children's sense of imagination, independence and discovery, and they generally interfere much less with their children's choices.

Why are Americans and Scandinavians so different when it comes to parenting? What is the current boom in over-parenting in countries like the US?

Inspired by behavioral psychology and sociology, my research with Matthias Toepke and Fabrizio Zilibotti uses an economic approach to explain differences in parenting styles. Parents love their children and want them to be happy. But parents and children often disagree on the best course of action.

"Our perceptions of the world around us shape how we raise our children."

Parents want to prepare their children for the world that awaits them, and whether parents choose to be more relaxed (depending on the Scandinavian model) or more restrictive (the American model) depends at least in part on the prevailing socioeconomic environment. Our perceptions of the world around us shape how we parent our children.

Take the inequality In a society with high levels of inequality and high returns on education, parents are threatened by the possibility that their children may go down the wrong path and fail to succeed in school. In return, they control parents who do everything in their power to prevent their children from straying from the "right" path. In contrast, the low level of inequality found in today's Scandinavian countries encourages a more relaxed parenting style. If there is a "wrong path", it is not very dangerous. Parents can relax.

Not surprisingly, in many countries, the trend toward increasing income inequality observed in recent decades has led to an increase in more extreme parenting practices. American parents are more involved in their children's lives today than in the past. The average American parent now spends three times more time on education-related child care activities than parents did in the mid-70s.

"Policies that can change the economic and educational environment have the power to alleviate the pressures that families currently face in their lives."

Other data paint the same picture. In America, the most unequal nation, the Global Values survey shows that about 80 percent of parents believe that hard work and obedience are the most important principles to instill in children. However, in Sweden, where inequality is much lower, only 26 percent of parents agree with their American counterparts, while three out of four think freedom and imagination are the most important values to pass on to their children.

So what is the best way to prepare our children for life and its challenges? It all depends. In sum, intensive parenting is neither "right" nor "wrong." However, there are ways to avoid over-parenting that stifles our children's individual talents. Sometimes the "wrong path" can actually lead to incredible opportunities. What do Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Brad Pitt and John Lennon have in common? They are all incredibly successful – and they all dropped out of school!

Policies that can change the economic and educational environment have the potential to alleviate the pressures that families currently face in their lives. As a result, parents can feel freer to adopt more relaxed parenting strategies and children can have more space to discover their true interests – and this can translate to greater happiness for our children.