1. “Unequal Childhoods, Unequal
Adulthoods: Small Moments
and Large Consequences”
Annette Lareau
Stanley I. Sheerr Professor
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
April 9, 2015
2. • “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.”
3. 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
4. Social position => life outcomes
PROCESS
Economic resources
Cultural knowledge
Ways work together: pattern of CONTINGENCY
*economic resources
*cultural knowledge
*contacts: key adults to help
5. 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
6.
7. 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.
8.
9. 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
10. 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
11. 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
12. Class and cultural logic of child rearing
Study of 88 families: 10 year old children
middle-class, working-class and poor
White and African-American
Middle class:
Concerted cultivation
Working-class and poor:
Accomplishment of natural growth
2003
13. 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
14. 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
15. Definition of social class
Middle-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
16. 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
17. 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
18. 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
19. 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
20. Harold McAllister
1. 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
21. Harold’s goals: Own a barbershop or a bar
What 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
23. Karl Greeley
White 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
24. Karl Greeley
1. 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:
25. 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
26. 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
27. 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
28. 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
Hinweis der Redaktion
This quote is from President Bill Clinton’s 1993 speech to the Democratic
Leadership Council. It is cited in Jennifer Hochschild’s book Facing Up to the American
Dream, p. 18.
http://www.shopralph.com/book.html
http://www.usrelocationservices.com/index.html
http://www.reform-america.net/immigration082707.html
http://theamericandream.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/fd/?referer=sphere_related_content/
In 2001, 39% of students whose parents had less than a high school education enrolled in college immediately after high school completion, compared with 81% of students whose parents had a bachelor’s degree or higher (National Science Foundation).
http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/06/13-facts-higher-education
“College graduation rates have increased dramatically over the past few decades, but most of these increases have been achieved by high-income Americans. Figure 7 shows the change in graduation rates for individuals born between 1961 and 1964 and those born between 1979 and 1982. The graduation rates are reported separately for children in each quartile of the income distribution.
In every income quartile, the proportion graduating from college increased, but the size of that increase varied considerably. While the highest income quartile saw an 18 percentage-point increase in the graduation rate between these birth cohorts, the lowest income quartile saw only a 4 percentage-point increase.
This graduation-rate gap may have important implications for social mobility and inequality. Given the importance of a college degree in today’s labor market, rising disparities in college completion portend rising disparities in outcomes in the future.”
The SCF defines transaction accounts as “a category comprising checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; money market mutual funds; and call or cash accounts at brokerages” (Bricker et al. 2012: 46).
Additionally, in the SCF “a household unit is divided into a “primary economic unit” (PEU)—the family—and everyone else in the household. The PEU is intended to be the economically dominant single person or couple (whether married or living together as partners) and all other persons in the household who are financially interdependent with that economically dominant person or couple” (Bricker et al. 2012: 76)