Why parenting now feels like an investment strategy
Why parenting now feels like an investment strategy
- May 8, 2026
- Nina Bandelj, sociology, via Bloomberg
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More recently, though, another form of economic logic has crept into parenting, according to a new book by economic sociologist Nina Bandelj, Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting (Princeton University Press). Bandelj, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, argues that we are now in a new phase of parental investment — one in which offspring are increasingly viewed through the lens of human capital. Children are being treated as future economic assets whose worth lies in the skills, education and credentials they will accumulate, Bandelj writes. … “A century ago, children labored for families. Today, parents labor for [their] children. Not just financially — we toil at parenting,” Bandelj tells me. “It has become an exhausting job to realize children’s potential, and support their emotional well-being.” Bandelj’s book tracks a number of factors driving the shift, from advances in understanding brain development in early childhood to the rise of consumerism and individualization, to the impact of social media on parents worldwide.
Read in full on Bloomberg.
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