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“Unequal Childhoods, Unequal Adulthoods: Small Moments
and Large Consequences”Annette Lareau
Stanley I. Sheerr Professor
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
April 9, 2015
• “The American Dream that we were all raised on is a simple but powerful one --- if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be given a chance to go as far as your God-given ability will take you.”
Sociological research
Social origins: life paths
Powerful findings,
But focus is on outcomes=>less on processes
Need attention to key moments
Contingencies
Things might have turned out differently
Social position => life outcomes
PROCESS
Economic resources
Cultural knowledge
Ways work together: pattern of CONTINGENCY
*economic resources
*cultural knowledge
*contacts: key adults to help
Structural forces:
• Wage set by minimum wage
• Eligibility for food stamps and other poverty programs
• Regulation (or lack there of) of occupational safety
• Immigration policies, citizenship policies
• Police services, fire fighter services
• Economic investment in communities
• Prison sentences
• Health insurance policies
• Deregulation of trucking industry
Immediate college enrollment rates among high school graduates, by parents’ education: 1992-2009
Source: National Science Foundation. “STEM Education Data and Trends: Who goes straight to college after high school graduation.” http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/data/highschool-03.html. Accessed 29 July 2014.
Financial Assets by Education of Household Head, 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances
Education of
Household Head
Checking and
savings
accounts
Retirement
accounts
All households 92.5 50.4
No high school
diploma
77.5 17.1
High school diploma 90.0 40.6
Some college 94.6 48.6
College degree 98.4 70.5
Source: Bricker, Jesse, Arthur B. Kennickell, Kevin B. Moore, and John Sabelhaus. “Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2007 to 2010: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances.” 2012. Federal Reserve Bulletin 98 (2): 1-80
Labor Market
About ½ of jobs are filled via informal ties
Nancy DiTomaso: 60% of her sample got one job via a tie
Networks are segregated: limits job opportunities
Segregated networks are common
• “It has long been known that people prefer to associate with others who are similar to themselves, which produces segregation in people’s social networks along a variety of core demographic statuses, including race/ethnicity, age, education, and income.” (DiPrete et al. 2011: 1236)
Source: DiPrete, Thomas A., Andrew Gelman, Tyler McCormick, Julien Teitler, and Tian Zheng. 2011.“Segregation in Social Networks Based on Acquaintanceship and Trust.” American Journal of Sociology, 116(4): 1234-83. See also McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and James M. Cook. 2001. “Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks.” Annual Review of Sociology 27:. 415-444
Class and cultural logic of child rearingStudy of 88 families: 10 year old childrenmiddle-class, working-class and poorWhite and African-American
Middle class: Concerted cultivation
Working-class and poor:Accomplishment of natural growth
2003
Two follow-up studies
• # 1: At age 19/20 years: 2003/2004
• Interviews with all 12 youths, mothers and
• fathers of 11 of 12 youths, and siblings
• # 2: At age 29/30 years, 2014
• Information on 10 of 12
• Direct contact with 8 of 12
• 2 hour interviews with 5 focal adults
Relationship:• Holiday card with a bill tucked into it for many of the
12 youths
• Gifts at weddings and births of babies
• Gift cards at holidays for families with kids who are struggling economically
• Some have terminated (see Lareau 2011), but rest greeted warmly
• 2nd edition) but, if not, greeted warmly
Definition of social classMiddle-class: one parent is employed in a position that either entails substantial managerial authority or which centrally draws upon highly complex, educationally certified (i.e. college level) skills. [BA+]
Working-class: at least one parent is employed in a position with little or no managerial authority and which does not draw on highly complex, educationally certified skills. [usually high school grad or high school drop-out]
Poor: parents not in the labor force in regular, continuous basis
Character of Institutions
• Many unwritten rules
• Eroding public services
• *example: Decline in high school counselors
• But working-class youth more dependent on these services than middle-class youth
Conceptual tools: cultural capital• culture as a resource which can yield profits
• *provides access to scarce rewards
• *is subject to monopolization
• *under certain conditions, may be transmitted from one generation to the next
• In Bourdieu’s work and others, knowledge is key
• But not sufficiently developed in literature
Harold McAllister African-American, poor family
When 10:
Lived with mother, two sisters, brother, and assorted cousins in public housing
Mother received AFDC
Father was mechanic (never married); Harold visited regularly
Large, rich extended family network: many family gatherings
Loved basketball
Vacation Bible study, but otherwise no organized activities; played with friends outside
Good student, no disciplinary issues (didn’t do homework)
lNot a source of information about possible jobs
Harold McAllister: Overview
The Historical and Social
Structural Context
Residence
School
Work
Incarceration
Child support
Going forward:
=>Ability to realize life goals
Pathway had numerous
branching points or
contingencies.
Other pathways possible, but
depended on a combination of:
Economic factors
Cultural knowledge
Adults available to help
Harold McAllister1. Federal housing policy: public housing torn down
*Rental housing: substandard
2. Urban school district: few counselors
* Cumbersome district transfer process
3. Workplaces: ambiguous criteria for promotion
4. Child support policies
5. Mass incarceration
6. Police
* Network fell apart
Lost housing, moved around
Substandard housing moved in with Dad
School
*college prep program
*basketball team
*attendance
Applied for numerous jobs, passed up: quit
Baby’s momma, DNA, pays child support
Running streets: arrests
Police
Extended family shattered
Harold’s goals: Own a barbershop or a barWhat would be involved?
2 years of barber school (need
living expenses)
Pass test for state license
Pay taxes to city
Driver’s license or governmental
ID
Bank account
Living expenses
He sees it as a 75% chance of
happening.
Limited institutional footprint
No driver’s license
No bank account
No retirement account
No car
BUT
Pays child support through the
state
Had a DNA test to prove
paternity
Heavy marijuana user
Karl GreeleyWhite man, grew up in poor family
Mother lost custody of kids due to a drug problem (when Karl was 4 yr, his
sister was 18 mos, his brother was 1 month)
Mom regained custody when he was 8 years old
Father not around
“Step-pop” around (never married) but separated when he was a teen; still
around
Lived in Section 8 (rent subsidized) apartment
At 10 years old, Mom was happy, kids were pleased to be back together
Walked dogs with neighbor, played outside, tested 156 IQ test
Karl Greeley1. Foster care system
2. Federal housing policy: Section 8 housing
3. Urban school district: few counselors: complete dependence on the counselor
4. Hospital policies
5. Section 8, cumbersome
6. Work policies
* Network small, grandfather difficult/controlling
Brother turned her in
Arrested, rehab children “sent to China”
Had Section 8 apt; fraud, found another one
School
*middle school did well
Small high school; only white student
Transferred to Lower Richmond
Job in grocery store “through someone in the neighborhood”
Fired: filed for unemployment, got job back
Never arrested: police harassment
Anxiety:
Got driver’s license at 30
Karl’s goals: “work in computers”What would be involved?
Clarity about the goal
Community college
Four year college?
Internship, job in computer repair shop
Networks:
Mother dead
Father dead
Step-pop disabled
Close with sister, nephew, and brother
Estranged from 2 uncles and grandpop
Limited institutional footprint
got driver’s license at 30
Bought a car
has bank account
Has health care
No retirement account
Feels stuck
Lives check to check
Networks:
Construction, school district janitor, pizza shop
marijuana user
If had some of same challenges with upper-
middle-class mother
Tutors
Other school
College preparation
Lawyers
Networks of doctors when in
hospital
Paid for barbershop school
Down payment on building
Help with license applications
Taking stock Average students
No major behavior problems
Mothers strongly wanted educational success in high school
Mothers strongly support paid work in labor force
Had hopes and dreams
Live in a historical context of federal, state, and local policies which helped to set the parameters for their lives
As grew up, lives unfold
Economic constraints
Cultural knowledge
Adults/networks
Worked together:
Many branching points
Many contingencies
Contributions of sociology
Live in an unequal society
Social origins cast a long
shadow for many, but not all,
children
But: not determined
Points when it might have
been different
Harold: mechanic
Karl: computer repair person
Need to unpack the interaction
of structural forces, historical
moments, and biography
Need to highlight key moments
Some moments are more
consequential than others
Cultural knowledge is often the
lynchpin, but interwoven with
other important factors