Middle Class Parenting Chapter Summary

I found the focus of the book to be perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the reading; Professor Lareau, instead of centering her research on the economic advantages of middle and upper class children, she concentrates on the impacts these class differences had on the overall development of the child as a result of diverging parenting strategies from parents in each socio-economic group. In other words, she notes that the disadvantages lower income children experience were more than just an economic; instead, these socio-economic differences truly manifested themselves in different ways of parenting. It was these differences in parenting, (a result of their socioeconomic class), that impacted the outcome of the children. Middle class parents practiced a method of parenting coined cultured cultivation, while lower income parents practiced a method on the basis of the accomplishment of natural growth. Middle class parents for example, instilled a broader cultural repertoire in their children. Something as simple as taking a child to

Quite the contrary, all parents in the study wanted the best for their children; however, middle class families had availability to resources and knowledge that working class and poor parents simply could not provide. This was most apparent in chapter 13 as the author revisits the children and interviews them, post-high school graduation. Middle class children, who had the continual guidance of their parents, often went on to college. In contrast, lower income children relied on schools as their channel towards college; while for some this was effective, many of the children in the study failed to continue on to higher education. This was intensified with children in the lowest income bracket. All children of equal potential, were denied equal opportunities because of their unequal