It may not be a popular notion, but family finances appear to be one of the most important factors in determining a child's academic capabilities.
Research by Ochanomizu University professor Hiroaki Mimizuka, reported at a recent academic conference of the Japan Society of Educational Sociology, indicates that the more affluent a family is, the better a child performs academically.
Mimizuka checked how the family incomes of students in the sixth grade of elementary school influenced their math test results. He conducted the study in a city with a population of about 250,000 in the Kanto region.