Are your genes to blame for not being rich?

Published12July201311:37,Updated15July201307:31

Anewreportintosocialdisadvantagehasraisedtheissueoftheimpactofgeneticsonwealth.

The possibility of a rich gene has created excitement in recent days following the publication of a new Productivity Commission report entitled DeepandPersistentDisadvantageinAustralia. Thursdays HeraldSun newspaper made room on its front page for a story that discusses some of the reports key findings. Entitled Born to Rule the HeraldSunarticle begins with the following paragraph: Rich kids do better at school while poor children struggle due to genetic inherited abilities, the Australian governments top policy research body says. The idea that offspring of rich people are genetically predisposed to success has important social ramifications. But a principal research adviser for the Productivity Commission Jenny Gordon says that their report has been misinterpreted. Its rather sad that one sentence in a report of 256 pages gets stretched to say something that the report didnt say at all, Gordon tells BRW. Gordon says the purpose of the Productivity Commission report was to identify causes for people suffering social disadvantage. Under the heading Explaining difference in education attainment: Inherited abilities, the report reads:

"Oneexplanationfordifferencesineducationalattainmentbetween childrenoflowandhighsocioeconomicbackgroundsisparents cognitiveabilitiesandinheritedgenes."

"EvidencefromtheUnitedKingdom(usingtheBritishCohortStudy withdataacrosstwogenerations),suggeststhatinheritedcognitive abilitiesexplainaroundonefifthofthegapincognitivetestscores betweenchildrenfromtherichestandpoorestfamiliesaftercontrolling foranumberofenvironmentalfactors."

Gordon says while the Productivity Commission references the British study, it does not present its findings as fact. It isnt just genetics, Gordon says. It is an interaction between nature and nurture. They overlap in many ways and we cant really separate them. Determining the reasons for disadvantage in longitudinal studies is difficult, Gordon says, because the people being observed are often homeless and difficult to track over time. We need better data to be able to unpack it, she says. Professor David Thorburn from the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne says genetics are a complex area in which it is difficult to make generalisations. Thorburn says genetics plays a role in determining most aspects of our lives but the idea there are different genes for different traits and characteristics is wrong. There are a huge number of genes involved, each having a small effect, he says. It is very difficult to disentangle the genetic elements from the environment [in terms of] intelligence and career success. Thorburn says he is not aware of any evidence of a genetic underclass. In almost all areas of life genetics is a component, but environment is likely to be an equal or larger component of the outcome.

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