Kids of the 1% are 10 times more likely to become inventors

Author: Robby Berman / Source: Big Think

• A new study reveals the economic class from which most U.S. inventors come.
• Wealth, race, and gender are all factors in innovation.
• Exposure to innovators and inventions in childhood can bridge the gap.

A just-released comparison of patent records and tax and school-district records has produced a stunning picture of a critical form of inequality in the U.

S. The Equality of Opportunity project, led by the Stanford economist Raj Chetty, has found that children of families in the well-off 1% are 10 times more likely to file a patent application during their lifetimes than children of less affluent families. In addition, white kids are three times as likely to patent, and a whopping 82% of young inventors are male.

Together, these figures represent a loss of potentially millions of young “lost Einsteins.” The authors estimate the U.S. would have four times as many innovators if this disparity could be addressed. Fortunately, according to the same data, they see a fix: Regular exposure to innovation and innovators during childhood.

The 1% advantage

The researchers analyzed a new de-identified database of 1.2 million inventors in which patent records are linked to tax and school-district records. This allows the tracing of inventors’ lives from birth onward. The relationship to patenting and family wealth is stark.

(Chetty, et al)

Patent rates vs. family income

It’s not an issue of talent

The benefits of coming from wealth also show up in what happens to students from different economic classes with equally exceptional math talent over time. Kids who do well at math in 3rd grade are far more likely to become inventors, but only if they come from affluent families. “Put differently,” says the study, “becoming an inventor relies upon two things in America: excelling in math and science and having a rich family.” By high school the students’ scores dramatically diverge.

(Chetty, et al)

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